Business . Will they talk at all about russians influencing the 2016 president ial election . Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. Were going to start with the politics lead today and the first tangible ripples from the stunning charges levelled by a woman in the Washington Post that she was sexually molested by Alabama Senate candidate roy moore when she whe he was 32 and she was 14. The special election is just five weeks away. Moore denies the allegation by Leigh Corfman and three other women who also allege that moore pursued intimate relationships with them when he was in his 30s and they were 16, 17, and 18 respectively. Moore called the Washington Post report allout war launched by the media. Others suggest the notion of a man in his 30s sexually boozing a 14yearold and pursuing other High School Girls is no big deal. Cnns Alex Marquardt is in alabama today where voters are telling us what they think. Reporter if anything can be said about roy moore supporters, is that theyre fervent and loyal. Drawn to him in spite of a controversial past. His valuesbased campaign centered around christian beliefs, popular in this reddest of red states. And that loyalty now still strong despite these new bombshell allegations. Supporters unnerved but so far unwavering. At meryls barbecue, dotty finch works in the kitchen. She says she doesnt believe moore had that sexual contact with a 14yearold girl or pursued other teenagers. Even if proven true, shed still vote for him. At first, you know, i really wasnt sure how i felt about the situation, but then i look at it this way, i dont have the best past. If he he went to the lord and asked for forgiveness for that and hasnt done anything like that in since then, i believe that if the good lords forgiven him, as a christian i have to forgive him also. Reporter Moores Campaign now using the report as a rallying call. Sending out a fundraising email calling it part of, quote, the forces of evil trying to silence and shut up christian conservatives like you and me. Steve bannon, the former Trump Campaign manager, who is now the head of breitbart news, has been one of moores most prominent backers. Comparing the Washington Post story to the access Hollywood Tape that they unearthed during the campaign. Hello. How are you . Hi. If you saw the way they came after him like theyre coming after judge moore today. This is not they didnt debate, you know, policy or politics. This is the politics of personal destruction. Right . Reporter alabamas state auditor went so far as to call the explosive allegations much ado about nothing. Take joseph and mary, he said. Mary was a teenager and joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of jesus. And like jesus, moores brother told cnn on friday the judge is being persecuted. Jay holen works with the countys Republican Party and has known moore for decades. He thinks moore could lose a few votes, but come election day, the turnout will be strong. This may be a little unusual, but not anything new for roy moore in terms of being through the fire and being in a Campaign Like this. Reporter do you think there is any chance he drops out of this race . No. You dont know roy moore. He is a fighter. If youve got to have somebody in a fox hole with you, you want roy moore. Reporter the big question moore supporters are asking now is why now . Why are these allegations only coming out 40 years after the fact . Do these women have an agenda . Are they trying to smear moore just a few weeks before this election . Are the democrats pushing them . Are they being encouraged by Establishment Republicans like Mitch Mcconnell . What people here are telling me is they want more proof, more corroboration. Until then, they want moore to stay in the race and theyre confident he can win. Jake . Alex marquardt in alabama for us. Thank you so much. Joining me now is former alabama Republican Party chairman marty conners. Marty, thanks so much for joining us. First things first, do you know if the alabama Republican Party has convened its executive committee in any way to discuss this situation . No, they havent. Okay. Now, i know that youre im sure theyve discussed it amongst themselves but nothing formal. I know youre skeptical of these charges from these four women. Why . Why are you skeptical . Well, first of all, i want to state something very important. Im a father of a daughter. I take these things very, very seriously. As does the people of alabama and, frankly, the rest of the United States. But dont you, i mean, youre the journalist. Mmmhmm. Dont you find it mildly just mildly curious that this would be coming out within a month of a big election where the senate is on the line, where tax reform is on the line, where obamacare is on the line . I mean, its kind of timely, dont you think . Well, the election is coming up but i would also observe that in the last month or two we have seen a lot of famous men left, right and center have their past actions dating back decades come under scrutiny. Whether Harvey Weinstein or bill oreilly. Sure, absolutely. Louis c. K. And when the women are interviewed, they often say that they were inspired by other women coming forward. Also, just having now covered a few of those stories, i know that it takes awhile in many cases for women who have horrible incidents like this allegedly in their past to get the courage to come forward. Well, that makes sense and i understand that, but i would counter what youre saying with the simple fact. Roy moore has run multiple times in the state of alabama. Governor, state Supreme Court chief, u. S. Senate. Just finished a very aggressive u. S. Senate race. Millions of dollars of Opposition Research against judge moore. Where was it ever found . Why is it showing up now . All i know is that some Washington Post reporters were down there doing a profile and they say that they heard these rumors and they chased them down and they spent days and days if not weeks trying to convince the woman to come forward and they did. The story in the Washington Post had 30 sources, including these four women coming on the record. If thats not enough for you, what kind of standard or burden of proof are you looking for . Well, its i would just think that that same Washington Post would have found this perhaps in august, perhaps, or last year or the year before. Its just the timing of the whole thing that really doesnt pass the smell test. Well, not for you, but, look, you were a Regional Chairman for mitt romneys president ial campaign. Mitt romney today tweeted, quote, innocent until Proven Guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections. I believe Leigh Corfman, the woman alleging the sexual contact when she was 14. Moore is unfit for office and should step aside. You and mitt romney disagree on this issue. He doesnt seem troubled by the timing. Well, i think that everyone that is in an establishment position with the Republican Party are going to say those sort of things. Its referred to as covering your backside. But think the truth is youve just got to watch the timing on this. Roy has been scrubbed up and down up and down. And, you know, the Washington Post, im not sure theyre the most credible source for news in the state of alabama. I mean i dont know why you would say that. Its one of the best newspapers in the country. Why would i say that . Why would i say is that . Okay. Yeah, its one of the best newspapers in the country. Youre curious about the timing and youre curious about and youre impugning the Washington Post but what about the four women . These are four alabama women who have similar stories about roy moore in his 30s coming on to them, according to them when they were 14, 16, 17 and 18. One of the women is a trump supporter. No, i well, one says shes a trump supporter. I assume she is. I take everything they say at face value. Thats why we have a court system. Let me tell you something else, if this is proven true, the courts will take care of it and i can promise you one thing, the alabama Republican Party will take care of it. Hold on. You just said you take what they say at face value, but youre is not taking what they say at face value, youre doubting what theyre saying. Im doubting the timing. I think we ought to let the process take course. I mean, im thinking about the john edwards case when he was running for president , or for that matter the months and months and months that it took us to ever get to the bottom of bill clinton. And i think your network has a little bit to do with some of that. I dont know what that means. Weve reported on all the allegations against bill clinton. Last year i interviewed Juanita Broaddrick in the leadup and bill clinton wasnt even running for office. Let me ask you, you tweeted last month, i guess hillary doubted the weinstein allegations like she did bills. Why do you believe allegations against people like Harvey Weinstein, im assuming based on that tweet, but not ones about roy moore . Isnt that the issue you see comedians right now wont criticize louis c. K. But, you know, theyll criticize donald trump. Arent you doing the exact opposite . No. No. I dont have an opinion on weinstein. I think he too should have his day in court. I just think that hillary i think whats unique about the situation, though, is that hillary ran as a feminist and yet dissed all of the women that came forward against bill clinton. Thats a big difference than this lastminute allegation. Lets just let it play out. Did you believe the accusers of bill clinton when they came out during the clinton years . Paula jones and Juanita Broaddrick and jennifer flowers and the others . Kathleen willie. Did you believe them . Im not sure about them. I do believe the blue dress. I guess heres a question for you, if it came down in an election between a republican who had been proven a child molester or a democrat, would you vote for the democrat . I would vote against the child molester if proven. And does it need to be proven in a court of law for you . Is that the standard . Well, i mean, what are we dealing with here facts or are we peddling toss in . Whats the definition of until you know what the facts are. I wasnt there, but four women coming on the record and making these allegations, people in their families saying they told them these stories in years past and, you know, certain details such as the one woman who was 14 and at the courthouse and her mom had been there for a custody hearing and then roy moore who was the District Attorney at the time allegedly coming and say he would take care of the girl, watch her at the time before he allegedly molested her. I mean, they went back the Washington Post went back and looked at the Court Records and the mom was there that day. Yeah. There will be depositions on that sort of thing. Think the Republican Leadership and the senate as well as the courts as well as in the state of alabama will be more than happy to clear that up when it is proven. Lets wait until then. Lets not peddle gossip. I dont think a story with 30 sources and four women making the accusations on the record is gossip. Let me ask you another question because weve heard Different Things from people who are supporters of roy moore. Do you think that there is something wrong with a man who is 32 having a sexual relationship with a 14yearold . Oh, absolutely. What about a 16yearold . Absolutely. And 17 and 18 as well . Yeah. Any woman for that matter without consent. Okay. But these women the point is they were under 18 years old. So you dont doubt their stories but you question the timing. I guess im just really confused about your position on this. I dont know what to think about their stories. You keep putting words in my mouth. I say i dont really know what their stories are. It hasnt been flushed out. It happens to be rolled out just dying before the election. Another interesting thing, once once the ballots have been printed. Its a little suspect. Id like you to ask questions to people. About the timing . Yeah, the timing. Youre the journalist, right . I did. I asked the Washington Post reporter yesterday. People are saying this is a hit job. Saying the this a smear job. Why is this happening now . She explained what i explained to you. They were doing a profile of roy moore, as one would expect after he gets the nomination for a senate seat sure. And then while doing that they heard these rumors, they chased them down and got this story. I guess what im really curious about is what kind of standard of proof are you looking for that would convince you that the charges are true or is it just because of the timing you dont thats not really important, the timing is the most important thing for you . Well, the timing is the most obvious political thing, but, you know, i think that depositions could shine some light on that. But it hasnt happened. So i dont i dont draw conclusions until i have facts. But then again, youre the journalist. Conservative blogger Jennifer Ruben tweeted, quote, if suburban women were mad on tuesday when they turned out in droves, what happens when they hear republicans defending pedophilia, unquote . Whats your take on that nobodys defending nobodys defending pedophilia. Well, there are are you kidding me . There are county party chairs and others in alabama who have said its no big deal even if its true, even if the charges are true. Im sure those are out of context as well. Okay. Former alabama go ahead. Ill give you the last word. Yeah, my last word i understand this is an interesting story, but when you have your sunday show, could you get us updated on the menendez trial . Id like to hear about that. Sure. Weve been covering the menendez trial since it started. Right now were wait for a verdict. We dont have access to jury deliberations. When sherry is a verdict, well bring that to you. Thanks for your interest in that. Former alabama Republican Party chairman marty conners, thanks so much. Weve got a ton to discuss, including why there seems to be different resumes for politicians than some in hollywood. Stick around. When youre close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment . If you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. Taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. 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Tv anncr the big idaho potato truck pulled into town today and its really a sight to see. Oh man. Lets go. distant you comin, boy . Sfx dog gulp woof. And were back with more in our politics lead. More on el battled Alabama Senate candidate roy moore who made it clear he does not plan to go anywhere, even though four women on the record accused him of sexual advances. In once case 14. Lets talk it over with the panel. First of all, kirsten, what do you think . I just interviewed former alabama Republican Congressman marty connorris. It just reminds me of the president ial campaign with donald trump. It was a very similar situation. It didnt matter if it was one woman after another after another, and it didnt matter. None of them were believable. It was all suspicious. It was all suspicious because of the timing. Yet at the same time as this gentleman was, theyre completely obsessed with bill clinton. All they want to do is talk about bill clinton who has been accused some some pretty bad things, which youve covered. Its definitely true in those cases. They just you know, it cant possibly be true in the cases when it involves someone they support. The people lo