differently than they were being presented. he's the second democratic lawmaker to resign this week. michigan congressman john conyers had been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple former aides. he has denied all the allegations, but stepped down on tuesday. compare this to the republican side of the aisle. more than a dozen women have accused president donald trump of sexual assault or misconduct. in fact the president on a tape was bragging about getting away with assaulting women because he's famous. and roy moore, who could very well be the next senator from alabama faces accusations from multiple women that he pursued relationships with them or assaulted them when they were teenagers. in his resignation speech today, franken addressed the contrast. let's watch. >> today i am announcing that in the coming weeks i will be resigning as a member of the united states senate. i of all people am aware that there is some irony in the fact that i am leaving, while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the oval office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the senate with the full support of his party. >> here's how white house spokeswoman sarah huckabee sanders responded to those comments. let's watch. >> the president addressed the comments back during the campaign. we feel strongly that the people of this country also addressed that when they elected donald trump to be president and i have addressed it several times from here and don't have anything new to add. >> and late today nbc news can report that republican congressman trent franks of arizona is preparing to resign his seat according to multiple gop sources. for more on this dramatic day on the hill, i'm joined by democratic congresswoman kathleen rice of new york state, the root's jason johnson and usa today's susan page. congresswoman, thank you. give us your sense of this day in history, the pros and cons of what was good about today, what was bad about today, whatever. how do you see the whole picture? >> well, it's a sad day obviously. we are dealing with an issue that has gripped the entire country. and my goal and my involvement in this has always been to be a voice for congress to do the right thing, not to circle the wagons and take care of our own and show the american people that there are certain rules that apply to them and then certain rules that apply to elected officials. now, although democrats came -- our leadership came to this issue a little late, they did call on the resignations that have happened and we need the republicans to do the same thing. we need paul ryan to stand up and be the leader of his party. i know it's difficult for him to do that when the standard bearer of the republican party for right now is the president of the united states. we know his history with this issue of harassment. but clearly the republican party is all in with roy moore. that's not what the public needs. we don't need more people who have shown a disdain for women in the workplace and have harassed them. so my hope and my call is for paul ryan and the republican leadership to get with the program and start forcing people out. >> well, for pure consistency here, the president didn't just harass, he assaulted and said so in his own language. should he resign in the spirit of what franken did today? if the president admits publicly as he has done on tape that he assaulted women as a manner of habit because of his celebrity, saying he could get away with doing it and had done so, why shouldn't he resign today like franken did, if you're being consistent? should he resign? >> i have said before that he should. i don't think that's going to happen. i think the president has shown himself impervious to the rules that are applying to mere mortal politicians here in the senate and the house. that should not be the case, but for right now it is. but that's a separate issue. look, he's going to have to be held responsible for his support and endorsement of roy moore. so too are the republicans who are all in with roy moore now. all in with financial assistance. no one is condemning him and it's not enough to say, you know, what if he wins and he gets here, we'll take care of it then. we don't need someone like him here, especially given everything that's going on. the american public deserves to have a government that works for them and is not in the primary business of protecting themselves. >> well, i have to stick with you for a second. what do you make of the republican hall pass on this? i mean arnold schwarzenegger was elected governor of california after all those accusations. he said he would form a commission once he got elected to look into it. what a joke. this president did it on television. we've watched the tape a hundred times. he walks into the white house, gets elected by the loelectoral college. what do you make of the republican voter giving a pass on this. they're giving their people a pass on sexual behavior like this, assault, going after teenagers when you're in your 30s. what do you make of those people who vote like this, congresswoman? >> well, there's an old saying that, you know, voters get the people they deserve. and whether you are a democrat or a republican, if you are willing to overlook allegations like this because it's your candidate for political reasons, then i think that you get what you deserve. my voice on this has always been to put politics aside. i am speaking out the way that i have because i'm a voter too. i'm a taxpayer too. and the constituents that i have heard from all across this country want the rules to apply to people here in congress. and i hope that this is going to allow for a much broader national discussion which in my opinion is long overdue on this issue of harassment in the workplace. >> thank you. i salute you. when it comes to roy moore, the message from many republicans, let the voters decide as you just heard. let's watch. >> i think he's going to do very well. we don't want to have a liberal democrat in alabama, believe me. >> we think that the allegations are troubling and that ultimately this is something that the people of alabama should decide. >> it's very clear now that mr. moore is not stepping aside, he is the candidate, he's on the ballot. the election is in one week and that the president -- the president has stated -- he's made statements on this very clearly. the most important thing is to let the people of alabama decide the election. >> the people of alabama will decide a week from tuesday who they want to send to the senate. it's really up to them. >> i would support him or will support him. it's a numbers game. i want republicans to maintain control. >> well, you have to say there, susan, my fellow expert on politics, that here pedophilia is trumped by politics. they don't care. the voters would rather vote for the guy of their party regardless of his sins or behavior or crimes. >> and pretty sharp difference you see there between two parties' attitudes. the allegations against al franken are serious but not nearly as serious as the allegations against roy moore. >> of course not. >> and one reason i think the democrats finally decided they would tell senator franken that he had to resign was because they want to make that contrast. >> i have a feeling for fran here. >> she looks really sad. >> look at that picture. it's such a sad picture for her. >> it is a sad picture. al franken was an effective senator, has been an effective senator. got re-elected easily after that very narrow first contest. but democrats decided they had to encourage him to resign because they want this big contrast with the other party and they want it to help them next year when republicans are standing with perhaps senator roy moore and democrats have forced members of congress, al franken, john conyers, perhaps others to come, to resign. >> jason, give me your sense of this morally, politically, the works, ideologically. what does this say about the power of women in politics. i think there has been a shift. i think this would not have happened this way 20 years ago. i think you and i agree. go ahead. >> yeah, definitely, chris. this is the power of women, and more importantly this is men listening to women, right? women are not the majority in the democratic party. they're certainly not the majority for democrats in the senate. but women said, look, this is a problem, men listened, and al franken is going to step down. there's a political element to this, but i think, chris, we've to give the democrats just some basic credit of this is just cleaning house. look, minnesota is a fairly safe seat. it's very likely the governor will put somebody else in. it will probably be another democrat that goes into that position. i'm fairly confident there are great politicians in minnesota who can replace al franken who don't have a history of sexual assault. i think the democrats, this is just their own internal housecleaning. one would like to think republicans would be capable morally or ethically in the same thing but don't have any interest in that. even if it's a relatively safe seat, they still wouldn't step away from roy moore when almost any republican could get elected out there. >> al franken had some surprising defenders last night. laura ingraham and newt gingrich warned of a lynch mob mentality. ingraham said the democrats' real goal was to go after roy moore and president trump himself. >> i'll tell you this tonight. be wary of the lynch mob that you join today, because tomorrow it could be coming for your husband, your brother, your son, and, yes, even your president. >> what you saw today was a lynch mob. this is a party which is losing its mind. these are people who grew up in a party which used to preach free love. now they have curdled into this weird puritanism which feels a compulsion to go out and lynch people without a trial. al franken was a comedian. comedians often do weird things. he was in the entertainment business. he was doing the kind of things people in the entertainment business do. >> congressman, what do you make of al franken's new ally here, team of allies. team of rivals. i don't know what to make of them. would you like those people defending somebody you cared about? go ahead, your thoughts. >> i think they should be ashamed of themselves. to say al franken is a comedian and that's what you should expect from a comedian, how do you explain donald trump, how do you explain roy moore and how do you explain blake farenthold who settled a case with taxpayer money for $84,000. he is saying right now, it's enough, i'm going to pay the money back and that should be enough. no, it's not enough. the victim in that case suffered real professional consequences and he should as well. the republicans should call for him to get out. but i'm not surprised that newt gingrich and laura ingraham take that tact. talk about cynical. talk about cynical and puritanical values. how about trying to uphold the traditions of one of the oldest institutions in this country, this congress, and show the american people whether you are a republican or a democrat, you're going to hold your representative accountable to behave in the way they should behave and the high bar we have being given the public's trust has been placed in us. >> hard to argue with that. let me ask you, susan, and jason too, i want to ask you the same question. do you think the american public are now going to see the difference between the two parties, the one publicly and with some pain have expressed a belief in women's rights to not being bothered by men and it may cost them a senator they respected a lot, who spoke their language a lot, and they're willing to show that they care about this issue enough to sacrifice somebody basically like this that they could have used in further arguments, and the republican party, which we just heard from the cynical voices of newt gingrich and laura ingraham, i mean these people are quite openly saying they're not going to use that standard. they're not even going to apply the standard. >> i think this fuels the fundamental political dynamic we saw starting the day after the inauguration when there was a woman's march, enormous crowds, lots of energy. >> women especially angry about trump. >> women angry about trump. women running for office. that will be something else to watch. >> jason, your thoughts about the possibly positive education that the -- i don't know how you can avoid the education in this. the worst you can say about democrats is they're too pure. but that's the worst thing you can say about them. these guys set too high a standard for public office. my opponents, the party of my opposition, they set too high a standard. come on, what do you think? >> right. you know, that's the thing, i think this is wonderful because it is a standard that we should all be following. first and foremost, newt gingrich is the last person who should be concerned about the morality of the democrat party or the republican party for that matter. those are not the allies that you want to have. but i think it's important that the democratic party has remained consistent. they're not going to win over roy moore voters with this and not going to win over trump voters with this. but there's something to be said, and voters will pick this up. voters don't like parties that aren't consistent. they don't trust you when you preach one thing and your policy is something else. so for the democratic party to say, hey, look, not only are we going to complain about the war against women, not only are we going to represent women's issues economically and policywise, we're going to hold our party to that standard. it increases enthusiasm, makes people much more excited about the party and it will make democrats much happier. and they can bring some attention and excitement to what might be keith ellison or the woman lieutenant governor in minnesota running for that position. >> i was thinking of that too. well said there, jason. thank you. thank you, kathleen rice of new york state, susan page and jason johnson. coming up, the russian investigation. again tonight republicans are doing everything they can to curtail special counsel robert mueller as mueller moves in on the inner sanctum of the trump administration. are they laying the groundwork to fire mueller or for congress to ignore what mueller discovers? i think so. i think that's what they're up to. plus violence in the middle east as expected as donald trump announced america will now recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. arab leaders promised a day of rage, we saw it coming and it's happening right now. it's not going to stop for a while. trump is remaking the republican party in his trumpian image. he wants roy moore in the senate and tomorrow he'll campaign just miles from the alabama border. he's also pushing wild man paul lepage of maine to run for senate up there and try to slam the door on mitt romney. finally let me finish with this day in history and what it taught us. december 7th. this is "hardball," where the action is. hey, man. oh! nice man cave! nacho? [ train whistle blows ] what?! -stop it! -mm-hmm. we've been saving a lot of money ever since we switched to progressive. this bar is legit. and now we get an even bigger discount from bundling home and auto. i can get used to this. it might take a minute. -swing and a miss! -slam dunk! touchdown! together: sports! president trump today met with top congressional leaders at the white house in a bid to hash out a long-term spending bill to keep the government going. the meeting was something of a do-over. democrats nancy pelosi and chuck schumer abruptly pulled out of last week's talks after president trump tweeted chuck and nancy, he called them, were weak on crime and that a deal wasn't likely. well, in his statement pelosi and schumer said today's meeting was productive and the discussions will continue. we'll be right back. and at our factory in boston, 1,200 workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation. today we're 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on the fbi's investigation of hillary clinton's e-mails in 2016. according to "the washington post," a spokesman for mueller's office said he was removed immediately upon learning of the allegations in july. the news played into the hands of the freedom caucus who argued that the fbi is biased against the president. let's listen. >> if one person can be persecuted by an instrument of the government at one standard and another one can't, what does that mean to all of us? should we fear our fbi? >> we'll also investigate the unprecedented bias against president trump that exists when we allow people who hate the president to participate in the investigations against him. >> the question really is if mueller was doing such a great job on investigating the russian collusion, why could he have not found the conflict of interest within their own agency. >> his name is mueller. the development also plays into a larger narrative that the russian probe is political and a hit job. well, it's a narrative fueled by sean hannity and other voices who regularly cite the political donations of members of mueller's team as well as the legal work they have done in the past for democrats. here's how he portrayed the investigation on his show last night. >> this entire witch hunt needs to be shut down and shut down immediately. what is beyond clear tonight is that robert mueller has assembled the most partisan special counsel in history. now, they are in utter disgrace in terms of equal justice under the law, the rule of law, and of course that means our constitution. >> mueller has been using the fbi as a political weapon, and the fbi has become america's secret police. secret surveillance, wiretapping, intimidation, harassment and threats. it's like the old kgb that comes for you in the dark of your night banging through your door. >> they all talk alike. i'm joined by bret stephens and frank montoya, a former fbi special agent. bret, what do you think about this? how big a gun to they have at the head of mueller to be able to say one of your guys got kicked off because he was anti-trump and pro hillary. >> to make a bad pun, i think they're grasping at strzoks. as soon as he found out about the text messages, he fired him. what else can they want? what's happening is conservatives or some conservatives are trying to create a fake narrative in which bob mueller is an out of control special counsel who's hell bent on getting the president at any cost. of course anyone who knows bob mueller or knows his record knows that this is the opposite of what he's doing. any serious conservative ought to let the special counsel do his work and let the chips fall where they may. but i'm afraid this is building up to a moment in which there's a concerted push to get donald trump to fire mr. mueller. i would advise viewers of this program to see an editorial on the "new york sun" website which practically in fact writes the speech for president trump. this is the narrative they're building towards, not because bob mueller is on a witch hunting but because on the contrary, he's racking up indictments and i think he's getting closer to the heart of the genuine scandal here. >> who owns "the new york sun." >> it used to be owned by a consortium of investors. it's my old colleague seth lipsky who writes editorials for it but these are very influential. seth is a friend and a terrific guy, but i think he's off the reservation here. >> pretty wild neocons. i want to go back to frank montoya on this. frank, growing up as a kid in the united states, i learned about davie crockett and the alamo. as the mexicans were coming and outnumbered, they fell back, like the last part of the old mission they could defend. i get the last part of the mission that the republicans can defend right now is, okay, mueller has probably got the stuff, he's probably going to nail the president, so our last thing is don't believe him. even if he gets the stuff, don't act, don't have the judiciary committee take up the issue. the last is rejection. that's what i sense is coming. your thoughts. >> i think it's ironic in fact in how they're trying to make these arguments. first they compare us to the nazis and then to the kgb coming in the dark of night. if that's in reference to the manafort search, that was an authorized warrant signed by a federal district court judge. so it is absolutely -- i think the last refuge of a bunch of cowards in the way that they are attacking a guy who his entire public life has been focused on not only upholding his oath to support and defend the constitution of the united states, but to uphold the rule of law, to follow the facts where they will take him. and it seems, especially with mike flynn's recent plea agreement, that those facts are getting awfully close to the inner circle of the white house. and so yeah, they're in, i think, a panic mode right now. >> well, this comes as the president wages a war against the fbi, obviously tweeting over the weekend that because of james comey, the fbi's reputation is in tatters, worst in history. those are trump's words. it was a charge that fbi director christopher wray rebutted in a hearing before the house judiciary committee today. let's listen to him. >> will you respond to this tweet by the president, is the fbi's reputation in tatters? >> congressman, there is no shortage of opinions out there. what i can tell you is that the fbi that i see is tens of thousands of agents and analysts and staff working their tails off to keep americans safe from the next terrorist attack, gang violence, child predators, spies from russia, china, north korea and iran. >> wow, pretty impressive. here's how white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders addressed that apparent discrepancy today. >> do we agree with chris wray that fbi field agents are appreciated and respected? the president's issues are with the political leaders in the fbi under former director comey, particularly those that played politics with the hillary clinton e-mail probe, and we don't see a discrepancy beyond that. >> i think there is one, bret. how do you go after the fbi, today's fbi, december 2017, led by the guy you got in there, wray, impressive guy, who's defending the agency and say somehow attacking and ridiculing the agency as finished basically at the same time trying to defend your appointment. what did -- i admit she has a tough job. i sympathize to some extent with her. go ahead. >> i don't sympathize with her. an honorable person would resign that position. but this has been a tactic by the president from even the days before he came into office. it started with the attack on the cia, the intelligence agency. the allegations that there was some kind of deep state working to delegitimatize his elections. it's continued with the attacks on the fbi. mr. comey hasn't been fbi director for some months now. but look, this is a tactic. i think it's important to look at this in an international context, chris. this is exactly what mr. erdogan did in turkey, which was to dismantle the institutions of the civil state there as a way of consolidating power. so there's a kind of an authoritarian pattern at work here to suggest is that there's some kind of deep state buried in washington working against the will of the people. it's a disgrace for any president to say it, particularly against the agencies he's attacking who are on the front lines, but there's a purpose here too. >> you know, i have to agree with you completely -- >> go ahead, frank. >> i absolutely agree with that. i spent 26 years in the organization and, one, there is no deep state. the other part is when you attack the institution, you're attacking everybody who's in that institution. and not just in a personal sense, but in the sense that they are doing their jobs every single day, getting out into the communities, building relationships, and so the effect on public trust, i mean it really serves to undermine that effort. you know, you look at those tweets from a couple of days ago that were muslim related, just the impact that it has on our daily activities in terms of building relationships with folks like that, it really is damaging to the efforts that we're trying to make out there. >> and it is all scorched earth by trump. a german academic told me this summer. he said the united states has always been known throughout the world for its independent judiciary, it's free press, for its norms. the norms that we have accepted. dealing with other countries fairly. those norms are gone right now. they're gone. we used to set the standard for the world. now we're just what we are, trump. bret stephens, thank you, sir. thank you, frank montoya. up next, violence on the west bank a day after trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. this decision has lit a match in that region and exposed an administration that's in over its head, that is true. 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the latest among the wind-driven fire, including this one in ventura county, now marching toward the pacific ocean leaving 90,000 charred acres in its wake. nearly 200,000 people have evacuated their homes, schools are closed and roadways shut down. and arizona republican congressman trent franks says he'll resign his seat at the end of 2018. this comes after the house ethics committee announced it was opening an investigation into allegations of possible sexual harassment. franks is denying he harassed two female former staffers. now we take you back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." when president trump recognized jerusalem as the capital of israel, he broke with decades of american foreign policy. the decision comes despite global condemnation and has prompted clashes in jerusalem, ramallah and other places in the west bank and the gaza strip. they have called for three days of rage and the palestinian group hamas called for a new uprising. according to "the washington post," the president's decision underscored the president's determination to break with past policy and keep a key campaign pledge, but several advisers said he did not seem to have a full understanding of the issue of. jared kushner and mike pence forcibly backed the president's decision despite warnings from secretary tillerson and mattis that this might spur a backlash. kushner saw warnings of over -- as overblown. quote, he is banking on the hope that the opposition is just a fa sought and privately after a cooling off period arab allies will continue to work with him on a peace plan he still expects to announce at some point in early months of 2018. these people don't know what they're talking about. here's the president's son-in-law who has the job because he's his son-in-law talking about how he doesn't think denying the palestinians their capital is going to be -- it's going to blow over. what's he thinking? >> look, there's a deeply cynical view of the region, which is expressed in that spin. my view is that that spin, it's probably the best they can do. but it also reflects who is jared kushner talking to? on the one hand he's talking to israelis and working very closely, hand in glove with the netanyahu government in israel. they're delighted about this. in fact, by the way, it was israel's ambassador to the united states, the well plugged-in ron dermer who gave me an interview last friday. he knew on friday that this was happening with all the speculation, number one. number two, jared kushner is talking to the saudis and the other gulf arabs. and they're assuring him despite our public protestations, we're required to say that, we're still with you. >> here's what i don't get. how do you square a circle. how do you tell the palestinians we want peace and deny them their natural sovereignty to part of jerusalem which they have always had. if you go to east jerusalem, it's arab. it's arab people. that's who they are. some christian, mostly muslim, but they're there. the old city is overwhelmingly arab, you feel it. and now they're saying, what, we're not going to give it to you as part of your country. >> well, it's very interesting. so both sides are point to this key sentence in president trump's remarks from yesterday. he said for the first time we're not against a two-state solution. then at the end of the sentence people are cutting this off. but he says but we don't want anything we're doing right now more or less to bias the outcome of an agreement both parties agree to. >> that's bs. let me ask you this. let's talk about consequences. it seems to me a leader of any party, either gender or whatever, just forget, leader, leader, leader, leaders know consequences. no matter what your politics, you know the future. you know if you do this, something else is going to happen. does trump know that what we're watching in the streets right now in ramallah and gaza was going to happen no matter what he said to spin anything? you tell hthem they're not goin to get their capital, the israeli state will get it, did he know this? >> i think he was told this very clearly by his state department. he was told it and he doesn't really care. as you pointed out, domestic politics seem to be the reason behind this and also the fact that trump from the very beginning of his administration, he wanted to do this literally on january 20th the minute he took the oath of office. that's what i was told by senator corker months ago. >> this is raw, and you may not want to respond to it. the republican party ran on hillary clinton on the grounds four people were killed in benghazi. now they're creating a situation that is fraught with danger to people's lives, all ambassadors around the world, all our diplomats, all our business people, all our tourists are now in danger because of this step he took yesterday. how come he doesn't care about the human life that's now in danger. >> i can't tell you what is inside his mine. what i can say is that he was certainly warned of this. he had the two most senior members of his natural security team oppose this at some risk to their standing inside the administration. there's a deeply cynical view of the arab world that they are being -- that they are sharing. and then you have donald trump saying it's about him, which is often what is shaping a lot of these foreign policy decisions. >> the last thing i thought he would do is buy the neocon nonsense because i have heard that no matter what you do to the arab, they'll take it in the chin. i like your expertise. thank you. coming up, meet trump's republican party, the new one. the party is rallying around this guy, they're rallying around roy moore and trying to get far-right governor paul lepage of all people to join the u.s. senate from maine. at the same time, the president is doing anything he can to keep ma moderates like mitt romney out of his face because he doesn't want anything to do with them. he wants to own the party. that's how he looks, he wants to own it all. you're watching "hardball." 's n, you actually like what you do. even love it. and today, you can do things you never could before. ♪ ♪ you're developing ai applications on the cloud. finding insights hidden in decades of medical documents. and securing millions of iot sensors. so get back to it. and do the best work of your life. ♪ ♪ you or joints. something for your heart... and do the best work of your life. 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. let's get the big guy in place. the ford year end sales event is here. i can guide you in. no, thanks , santa. i got this. santa: uh, it looks a little tight. perfect fit. santa needs an f-150. that's ford, america's best selling brand. hurry in today for 0% financing for 72 months across the full line up of ford cars, trucks and suvs. for a limited time, get an additional $1,000 cash back on top of 0% financing for 72 months. get these exclusive offers during the ford year end sales event. get these exclusive offers and i am a senior public safety my namspecialist for pg&e. my job is to help educate our first responders on how to deal with natural gas and electric emergencies. everyday when we go to work we want everyone to work safely and come home safely. i live right here in auburn, i absolutely love this community. once i moved here i didn't want to live anywhere else. i love that people in this community are willing to come together to make a difference for other people's lives. together, we're building a better california. welcome back to "hardball." in his latest effort to remake the republican party in his own image, president trump will rally his troops for roy moore tomorrow in pensacola, florida, as close as he can get to the embattled republican without appearing on the same stage with him. pensacola is just 20 miles from the alabama state border. meanwhile, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has warned of the consequences of bannon-backed republican challengers like moore. let's listen. >> my goal as the leader of the republican party in the senate is to keep us in the majority. the way you do that is not complicated. you have to nominate people who can actually win, because winners make policy and losers go home. >> isn't it nice when politicians talk like politicians? president trump thinks he has a better eye for winners than does mr. mcconnell. politico reported this week trump wants utah senator orrin hatch to run for re-election in an effort to keep mitt romney out of the senate. trump may have his eye on a long-term supporter, maine governor paul lepage, he's the wild one, to run for the senate in 2018. trump plans to call lepage and ask him to jump in against angus king and offer his endorsement. lepage is best known for some of his more controversial comments. let's listen. >> these are guys that are named smoothie, shifty, these type of guys that come from connecticut and new york. they come up here, they sell their heroin and then go back home. incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave. now, i'm not going to apologize to the maine women for that because if you go to maine, you will see that we are essentially 95% white. if you want to make it racist, go right ahead, do whatever you want. >> i think we were doing that already, governor. the "hardball" roundtable joins me now. another great group. so what do we make of the new republican party that he's con fe fecting with lepage and bannon's help and roy moore? >> i think there's a pattern here. president trump likes people who like president trump. all of these people have supported him, have said glowingly wonderful things about him. lepage said that he was trump before trump, called himself baby donald. roy moore has praised donald trump. as has orrin hatch recently. he's just really been playing it on. meanwhile someone like mitt romney has been highly critical of president trump. >> yeah, and he doesn't fear him. >> no. >> instead it's like the party of argentina, as long as you're loyal to parone, you're a paronist. >> i certainly agree the president loves people that love him. but we should also say there's an ideological like-mindedness among most of these people. roy moore, paul lepage and donald trump, they both blend that same brand of activity politics, they both lead with that kind of cultural stoking conflict, that racist anti-immigrant type of rhetoric. and so these are also not only people who get along, but also are of the same ideological bent. >> why don't they just call it the nationalist party and drop the republican moniker. it looks like they're booking the nationalist party. >> certainly trump also wants to get things done. and he -- you saw him today sitting with mitch mcconnell and asking how they can put together -- >> why is he going along with this? >> mcconnell has absolutely no choice. he's got a stamped, branded republican president and he absolutely has to get a few things done. certainly they have to get taxes done, maybe one other big win before the end of the year. or it's on his head. he's -- they have had both houses of congress and the white house and they have no name brand accomplishment to show for it. >> donald trump admits in that tape that he grabbed women in a gross way, a really gross way, an illegal way, probably a felonious way, and that doesn't seem to bother people that voted for him, including a lot of women. explain. the whole strategy of hillary clinton was to try to get republican women who were offended boy the very being of donald trump and it didn't work. will it work in '18, in '20? >> there's a thing that happens where in primary you have the luxury of caring about morality and in the general election voters tend to vote with their party. and they're willing to look past a lot of things. not all of them, but voters are generally will to look past a whole lot of things to get to their issues, the issues that matter to them. in the case of donald trump, it was about the courts and about abortion. and we are so tribal now that you have a recent poll in alabama said 71% of people, republicans, simply didn't believe any of the reporting about roy moore. >> a couple of years ago the republicans learned that sharron angle were dangerous to run because they were going to lose to people that wouldn't normally get to the senate because they were running against unvoteable people. i guess that's something if you're in the republican party, they can go pretty far now they must figure. >> we've seen some change among the voter base. it's also state by state. roy moore probably wouldn't win in some other state but in a state like alabama -- >> where else could roy moore win? >> with the republican advantage so large, then he has a chance. but we have seen a shift among the voters -- >> shelby is not even voting for him, a republican senator isn't even voting for the guy. >> but years ago, you had evangelicals saying that morality mattered for them for politicians. now you have polls from them saying that that's on the back burner. >> what about personal morality in 1998 with bill clinton, most important thing in the world to conservatives. >> and democrats didn't care about it then. that -- that turn-around is absolutely amazing, right? i mean that was the thing by which republicans hung bill clinton on a hook, that he was -- that he was a liar, that he was immoral and that he had dishonored -- >> younger. >> he had dishonored the presidency. >> he went down as young as 22. the age of skenlt consenting is this guy wins. it's ludicrous that they're running this platform. the roundtable stays with us. you're watching "hardball." 5 pae gonna floor ya. like our new feast with lobster-wrapped scallops and a juicy sirloin, plus a savory lobster-and-shrimp smashed potato. and our new lobster and seafood-topped filet? every bite is better than the last. the classic is here too. come indulge in surf & turf like you've never had it before it's too late. and weekdays, create your own seafood lover's lunch for just $9.99. last night on fox news u.n. ambassador nikki haley indicated the american athletes might skip the upcoming winter olympics in south korea given tensions on the korean peninsula. let's listen. >> is the united states recommending that our team goes or is that still an open question in this environment? >> there's an open question. i have not heard anything about that. i think it depends on what's going on at the time in the country. we have to watch this closely and it's changing by the day. >> when asked about those comments today, press secretary sarah huckabee sanders said that no official position had been made. but she later clarified saying update. the u.s. looks forward to participating. we are engaged with the south koreans and other partner nations to secure the venues. we'll be right back. as master sergeant. they really appreciate the military family, and it really shows. we've got auto insurance, homeowners insurance. had an accident with a vehicle, i actually called usaa before we called the police. usaa was there hands-on very quick very prompt. i feel like we're being handled as people that actually have a genuine need. we're the webber family and we are usaa members for life. usaa, get your insurance quote today. jimmy's gotten used to his whole yup, he's gone noseblind. odors. he thinks it smells fine, but his mom smells this... luckily for all your hard-to-wash fabrics... ...there's febreze fabric refresher. febreze doesn't just mask, it eliminates odors you've... ...gone noseblind to. and try febreze unstopables for fabric. with up to twice the fresh scent power, you'll want to try it... ...again and again and maybe just one more time. indulge in irresistible freshness. febreze unstopables. breathe happy. we're back with the "hardball" roundtable. tam remarks tell me something i don't know. >> i was talking to a researcher who studied political scandals, and historically if someone doesn't resign in congress, in the house, two-thirds of people who are plagued by scandal are re-elected. >> wow. >> what are you saying to al franken tonight? that's a pretty important analysis. >> but people resign. >> they do. >> president trump's visit to mississippi is already making waves. today we had representative john lewis and representative bennie thompson saying they're not going to go. >> it's a civil rights museum. >> a civil rights museum they were going to. they were scheduled to speak and now they're going to protest with people and not go. >> good for mr. lewis. >> chuck schumer was at the white house today for the meeting as you saw on the tape there, but he is not going back tonight, nor are any of the other 29 democratic jewish members of congress because the white house has not invited them to the annual hannukah party. >> why? >> they're doing it differently this year. >> i think that's true for all of us. thank you. when we return let me finish with this day in history. december 7th, and what it taught us. you're watching "hardball." i kept looking for ways to manage my symptoms. i thought i was doing okay. then it hit me... managing was all i was doing. when i told my doctor, i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease even after trying other medications. in clinical studies, the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. just managing your symptoms? ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible. let me finish tonight with what happened on this day december 7th, 76 years ago. when the japanese navy attacked our naval base in hawaii, killing 2400 americans, president roosevelt called it a day that would live in infamy. it allowed us to hold the moral high ground throughout the war in the pacific. in 1962 when america faced the most climactic moment of the cold war, when the russians put offensive nuclear weapons in cuba, robert kennedy wanted america to keep the high ground, not to become like the empire of japan in december of 1941. quote, for 175 years we had not been that kind of country, he argued. a sneak attack was not in our tradition. thousands of cubans would be killed without warning and a lot of russians too. he argued for a different action, one that would give the russians room to withdraw their missiles peaceably. i think america needs this moral compass, leaders who know the difference between right and wrong, who can lead us on a course we can be proud of long after the crisis passes. my book "bobby kennedy, a raging spirit" is proof that we had leaders like him. it's for people who love this country but worry about how we're being head especially as we enter this holy season. i love having written this heroic story and having for years to come it's out there for you. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. >> tonight on "all in" -- >> this is the biggest corruption we have ever seen in terms of our justice system. >> from trump tv to the halls of congress. >> if he kicked everybody off mueller's team who was anti-trump, i don't think there would be anybody left. >> tonight the mounting offensive on the american justice system to try to stop robert mueller and save donald trump. >> are you aware of him openly aligning themselves with political bias against the trump administration? >> then, more trouble for the president's son. >> there wasn't really follow-up because there's nothing there to follow up. >> reports tonight there was follow-up to the infamous trump tower meeting. and a surprise republican resignation from