Living room and proceeded to seduce me, i guess you would say. And during the course of that, he removed my clothing. He left the room and came back in wearing his white underwear. And he touched me over my clothing, what was left of it. And he tried to get me to touch him as well. And at that point, i pulled back and said that i was not comfortable, and i got dressed. And he took me home. But i was a 14yearold child trying to play in an adults world. And he was 32 years old. Roy moore denies these allegations and further says he does not even know you. I wonder how many he doesnt know. Thats a strong statement. Corfman said it haunted her for decades. In an interview with breitbart this weekend, moore himself again denied the allegations against him by nine different women and blamed it on a conspiracy between democrats and republicans to keep him from a senate seat. I believe with all my heart that Mitch Mcconnell and the establishment are in cahoots with the democrats to stop this campaign. They have taken a calculated risk for two years with the democrats and try to elect another republican in two years, and they want me out. Well, meanwhile, a generational divide of sorts has opened up among republicans down in alabama. Party there has stuck with moore. But over the weekend a group that represents Party Leaders under 40 said they were suspending all support for roy moore. Thats the phrase. They said moore should step aside if he cant convincingly refute the allegations against him. Also, this weekend, the states three largest newspapers ran a skaigt editorial against moore on their front pages. The papers wrote, alabamians must show themselves to be people of principle and reject roy moore and all that he stands for. Im joined by kyle witmeyer, columnist for the alabamian itself, and National Politico reporter for the boston globe. Kyle, give us a sense of what that newspapers importance is in the state. Chris your paper. Yeah, my paper. I work for the Alabama Media group. Part that of is the birmingham news. And i think as an institution, we sort of look back not just on our reporting now, but our reporting during the Civil Rights Movement which is lets just face it, was not great. The birmingham news was an apologist for what was happening here during that period. And i think we as an institution said were not going to let Something Like that happen again. Were going to step out with a strong voice and say unequivocally that these Women Deserve to be believed, and make the argument that, you know, what roy moore is saying right now, these denials in the face of so many different accusers saying consistent stories, and now were hearing those stories directly from those accusers, its just not credible. So you tell me something interesting. Given the legacy of birmingham, youre talking about the days of bull connor, the Police Commissioner who was known for the fire hoses and the dogs and all that stuff against those kids coming out of the birmingham church. This is setting the record where youre saying setting the legacy of the newspapers right. How would you describe it further . I believe that, look, we have to tell the truth whether that makes us popular or not. And actually, would it might make us less popular when it might not be what our audience wants to hear when people might drop their subscriptions to the newspaper . Thats when its most important for us to stick by our guns and speak what we believe to be the truth. So youre going get hit, you want to be hit on something you believe in. Anyway, the boston globe reported today that roy moore isnt losing support among evangelical religious leaders. Quote, none of the nearly ten pastors reached by phone said the allegations of Sexual Misconduct changed their minds about moore. Several said the allegations made them more proud to vote for the former judge. Repeatedly, the pastors attempted to discredit moores accusers in personal terms which some dismissing their emotional stories as crocodile tears and fake news. Instead one of the pastors told you, even if the allegations were true, he would still support moore. Pastor earl wise reported there. There ought to be a statute of limitation on this. How these gals, there is a phrase, came up with this, i dont know. They must have had some sweet dreams somewhere down the line. Plus there are some 14yearolds who the way they look could pass for 20. Put that all in context. Thats a hell of a reading on the colorful situation down there in terms of evangelical surprise. Yeah. It was an interesting week. I was calling some evangelical pastors that previously supported judge moore and asked them has that support changed since we learned some of these allegations and what are your thoughts on the allegations. And the ones i reached, all of them have decided they still back the judge. And to a varying degree, they all were willing to make deep apologies for the judge either by totally dismissing the accounts of the accusers, or even saying if they were true, they would still vote for them because the thought of supporting a democrat for these evangelicals with those socially conservative views was just unthinkable. You know, ruth, it reminds me of the pennsylvania voters who voted for trump because they thought he was truly a prolife kind of guy, even though they didnt like his lifestyle, to say the least. I actually think this is worse than that. Either you disbelief an array of people, nine women who are telling what seem to be incredibly believable and powerful. A slice of life. It does sound true. Either you disbelieve them because you are so entrenched in your world view, or you believe and i think even worse if you believe them as the governor has said she does and just dont care about what he did because democrats are such its so impossible to imagine a democrat being elected to the seat. Its only two or three years left to this term. Its immoral. And for a pastor do it is immorality piled on immorality. Billy grahams son has disappointed me hi, see not the only one. Jerry falwell jr. , president of liberty university, another influential evangelical pastor supporting roy moore. But especially when i talk to the alabama pastors, the support was even more visceral. The language they were using, saying that moore was being lynched in the public square, calling john mccain and Mitch Mcconnell field hands picking cotton in a democratic plantation. No these were some of the language i was hearing from these pastors who really see moore as a champion and advocate for their world view. The white house adviser Kellyanne Conway was on fox news today talking about the republican tax plan when she brought up and brought up roy moores opponent down there in alabama, doug jones. She came delos an endorsement for moore which the president ghaif given lately. And doug jones in alabama, folks, dont be fooled. He is weak on crime. He is weak on borders. He is strong on raising your taxes. He is terrible for property owners. And doug jones is a liberal which is why he is not saying anything and why the media are trying to goose him. So vote roy moore . Im telling you, we want the votes in the senate to get this tax bill through. Will the president be going back down to alabama to campaign on behalf of roy moore before the special election . There is no plan to do that. Thats a pretty strong work there by ducey, anyway. I mean it relatively. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about conways comments. Lets watch. Is that the position of this white house, that voters are better off voting for someone accused of assaulting teenaged girls than a democrat . The position of the white house hasnt changed. We feel like the people of alabama should make the determination on who their next senator should be. But she made a clear suggestion who they should sleet for. And im giving you the position of the white house. Theyre really believing in sta states rights tonight. Can you discern direction in the polling . Is it going in the direction of jones or is it static . Where is it standing right now . Weve certainly seen a shift there is no question that weve seen a shift in doug jones favor. The question has always been whose base is going to be the most fired up come election day. And right now, you know, i travel through the suburbs of birmingham fairly conservative area, you know. And ive sort of made a game, my family and i have made a game of counting how many doug jones signs we see along the roadside. And i would say between saturday and sunday i saw more doug jones signs out. I havent seen one roy moore sign in that area. Now signs dont vote. But there is clearly momentum right now in doug jones favor. Its just a question of whether he can keep it up for the next few weeks. Yeah. And if its going to be enough to overcome some of the more rural areas like the wire grass as we call it down South Alabama that does not seem to be moving away from roy moore. And, you know, i think were going see a big gender split here. I think we still have a lot of men who are squarely behind roy moore and think i that a lot of this is, excuse the term, trumpd up. But women who have had bad experiences in their past said hey, Something Like that happened to me. And i never spoke out about it either. Or they had a friend that had that happen to. Theyre going hear these stories very differently. Thank you, kyle. Also, theyre not big shot women. Astead . Youre shaking your head right now about men and women difference right here. I pointed that out to the pastors when they would bring up the conspiracy that judge moore has talked about. Well, these arent democratic voters who were seeing here. Will roy moore listen to the people of alabama. These women accusing him are people of alabama. And these people who in some cases voted for donald trump. These are real questions that people are going have to ask about is that morality more important than that partisanship. Turning to a different story, there is a new allegation against senator al franken of minnesota. Lindsey mentz told cnn she spoke to franken at the Minnesota State fair in 2010. While posing for a photo with him, she said, quote, franken pulled me in really close like awkward close, and as hi husband took the picture, he puz hit handful fledged on my rear. Franken said i take thousands of photos at the state fair and i certainly dont remember taking this picture. I feel badly that ms. Menz came away feeling disrespected there is a dynamic clearly working against senator franken the way these stories are coming out. Senator franken has done the wrong thing with that other episode from before he became a senator. And if this was one true, another wrong thing at precisely the wrong time. There certainly has been a point, you know this as well as anybody that if you evicted every man from the senate who had put his hand on a womans rear without being invited to do so, you would not be able to make a quorum call in the senate. Circumstances that based on not based on your personal experience. That based on word of mouth . Well, Everybody Knows stories. Everybody know stories about senators, some who are not november longer with us who touched women and in much more inappropriate places. But that this is now and that kind of behavior, if its a credible report is not okay when youre a sitting senator. Thinking was in 2010. He was in the senate. Thats right. He is in his second term. To me, its a really big difference if there is one allegation or two credible allegations. Its a really big difference if youve done it when you were in the senate or not. And times are changing. And i think behavior that used to be kind of laughed off is not laughed off anymore. Thank you on that note. Kyle whitmire, thank you for that grating report. Ruth marcus as always and Astead Herndon for the great report from you from the boston globe. Coming up, the white house is bracing for what one intern is called a long winter as the investigations into contacts with russia intensifies. How worried is Trumps White House right now and how worry shod they be . Its all coming ahead here the next block. Plus Charles Manson is dead. The cult leader who is the mastermind behind several high profile gruesome murders in the late 60s died in a california prison. His name synonymous now with violence and insanity and evil. Well talk to a reporter who covered his murder trial. And the one thing southern sayers they hate about this president is twitter habit. This weekend the president went off on a twitter tweet storm, savaging athletes and Hillary Clinton. I udiscovered my last three weeks of selling my book. This is hardball, where the action is. This holiday, the real gift isnt whats inside the box. Its whats inside the person who opens it. Give ancestrydna, the only dna test that can trace your origins to over 150 ethnic regions. And open up a world of possibilities. Save 20 for the holidays at ancestrydna. Com. When this guy got a flat tire in the middle of the night, so he got home safe. Yeah, my dad says our insurance doesnt have that. What . you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. President trump today announced his administration has redesignated north korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, adding the country to the list for first time in near lay decade. Anyway, the designation will be accompanied by further sanctions. Its also seen as an expression of good faith to other allies in the region. North korea spent more than 20 years on that list before being removed from it in 2008 by the bush administration. That was part of a failed bid to have the country curb its Nuclear Weapons program. Well be right back. Yup. Getting kinda close to my ride. Wow. Now, thats how you make a first impression. Theyre going to love you. Thats ford, americas bestselling brand. Hurry in today for 0 financing for 72 months across the full line of ford cars, trucks and suvs and just announced. Get 0 apr for 72 months plus 1000 cash back take advantage of these exclusive holiday offers during the ford year end sales event. Welcome back to hardball. The Washington Post is reporting today that staffers in the west wing of the white house are split over the danger of the russian probe and the legal exposure they may each face. Some have taken comfort in the words of trump attorney ty cobb who now says the probe will wind down by the new year rather than by thanksgiving, as he initially predicted. However, the reassurances from cobb and others which seem at least partially aimed at keeping the president calm and focused on governing are viewed by others as naive. As one republican operative said of course they are worried. Anybody that ever had the word russia come out of their lips or on an email, theyre going to get talked to. Its going to be a long winter. Furthermore, there are signs that another issue will soon drop. Witnesses questioned by muellers team warned that investigators are asking about other foreign contacts and meetings that have not yet become public and to expect a series of new revelations. Another source said staffers have resorted to dark humor about potential moles inside the west wing. Quote, when the staff gather in the morning at the white house now, they jokingly say good morning, you wired . The coauthor of that part, a White House Correspondent for the Washington Post and msnbc political analyst. Joyce vance is a former federal prosecutor. Thank you both for joining us. I guess what im going to try do here is match the reporting up with the idea with what trade craft tells you about prosecution. So ill start with ashley. This subjective worry. Some people are worrywarts some arent. How do you cities still out of that how far this thing is going to go . The only person who knows what theyre talking about is mueller, and hes not talking. And everyone else is making their best guesses there are a number of staffers i spoke with who say and seem to mean theyre not worried. They say ty cobb, who is the lawyer who is handling this has reassured us. Originally said it would be over by thanksgiving. Thats obviously not the case. Look we did nothing wrong. We have nothing to worry about. And then there is other people in the president s inner circle, and certainly people close to the probe who say thats very naive. The way things like this work is it starts off less damning and you sort of work your way. In the fact that he went after people, gates and manafort on moneylaundering issues means its an opening salvo and he is only going get closer. Can you tell, joyce, by watching this, it seems to be moving away well, this week at least, it seems to be moving away from the collusion question, the moneylaundering question by people like manafort, gates and flynn and over towards the obstruction area that seems to be where theyre pushing the fresh. If i were thinking, that would be a whole another kettle of fish. Different white house people who may have been part of a conversation about how to shut comey down, shut the whole prosecution down. And thats when you get into obstruction. From what little we can see about how mueller has organized his team, it would be more accurate to think about this as a number of parallel tracks instead of just one big investigation going forward. So we saw the manafort, the gates and the papadopoulos lines of the investigation bear fruit. This week it seems were seeing a little bit more, hearing reports of being witnesses interviewed as this collusion case that leads to perhaps inside of the oval office moves forward. What about Jared Kushner . He is under more scrutiny after nbc reported one source familiar with kushners testimony before a Congressional Intelligence Committee said he specifically denied under oath he was unfamiliar with any attempts by wikileaks to contact the campaign. As the atlantic revealed last week, donald trump jr. Sent an email about his condolence with wikileaks to kushner among others and kushner forwarded that email to Campaign Communications staffer hope hicks. His lawyer said mr. Kushner is one move people who whom one email was sent handy did not respond. Ashley, it seems like i got an email. I passed it on. I can deny i had anything to do with it. I dont know anything about