first karl rove former deputy chief of staff to president george w. bush and fox news contributor and chris stirewalt fox news politics editor. gentlemen, welcome. good to see both of you tonight. >> loudy, ma'am. >> martha: karl, put on your prognosticator hat and tell me what you think is going to happen here tonight with alabama voters. >> i'm disappointed stirewalt is not in washington. so i'm hanging out in his office down here. interesting things in the bottom drawer. interesting things in the bottom drawer. thank god i don't drink, buddy, or you would be drained dry there. [laughter] look, this is going to be jefferson county and the 13 black belt counties versus birmingham suburbs, north alabama and the wire grass. and then one of the areas that's going to be really critical tonight is what happens in southwest alabama, down near mobile and the exit polls are pointing to this thing being tighter than a tick. you know, as thin a margin as lead to mechanical pencil. if the democrats win this race it's going to be a commentary on the quality of t

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karl rove on timing of franken's resignation. what happens now? melissa: congress moves forward on the budget. nicole petallides on floor of new york stock exchange. nicole we saw a spike in the dow after al franken announced he was going to resign. what about that? >> indeed, that's right. it went to the highs of the day. we're up about 120 points at that time. held on to good gains, up 71 points for thedown. that is gain of one-quarter of 1%. s&p snapping a recent losing streak. they're digesting from the latest noise and all headlines they get some profit-taking has subsided. taking a look at dow, nasdaq, s&p. you have all winners. dow winners, caterpillar, nike, boeing, united technology. boeing, talking another all-time high there. there is bitcoin. the cboe make this one the real deal. jamie dimon thinks it a whole thing is a fraud from jpmorgan. look at that, common, 15,500. this thing barreled through 14,000, 15,000, 16,000. much moves to obviously highest levels here and making it own sort of record. we'll see whether or not people are be

karl rove, good to see you. >> merry christmas, trish. trish: 2018, midterms, are the republicans in jeopardy in your view? >> absolutely. and, they better start using the tax bill as a way to go on the offense and the good news they can do so because the democrats once again are overreaching. the joint committee on taxation said if you take into account all the individual and even corporate tax rate, households making less than $50,000 a year adjusted gross income, get 11.2% cut in their taxes. by comparison, people at top, making more than a million, get a 5.9% in their taxes. this tax bill is progressive. that it is to say putting money in hands of order snarery people by giving back another big share of their money. another way to look at -- trish: some don't necessarily like that karl. the people pay taxes should give a bigger tax break but democrats don't have a leg to stand on because that the middle class isn't get aing a break because they are. >> this again is from the joint committee on taxation. this is their distribution tabl

but what karl rove is talking about it's not enough. i think that to go out there, his numbers on the economy the numbers on the tax bill might be high come august but what will his personal o prove all ratings be in the districts that the republicans need to hold a majority in the house. i think moving on this thing like infrastructure for another win is much more, it's just a better prospect for them. maria: and democrats like it. hard for them to go out and campaign against republicans when democrats want that infrastructure. >> so you think that's the next piece of legislation? >> they're talking about welfare maria: they never do that. not next year. they're talking about it but they can't do it. how do you get welfare legislation done in an election year. what do you do? guess what voters i'm taking away your social security. >> there's no way president trump campaigned against the main republicans who cut your medicare medicaid and social security. he said he wouldn't do it. it's one more thing that divides them. maria: if they g

karl rove moments ago was breathing a sigh of relief he didn't win. what's your reaction to charles barkly there? >> i think barkly is painting with a pretty broad bush when you suggest everyone voted for roy moore is some sort of hick and that language is what led to president trump in the first place of dismissal of everyone who votes for a bad flawed republican candidate i wouldn't have voted for as somehow backwards or stupid. there are a lot of people voted for roy moore because they felt doug jones would be a course senator for the state of alabama in terms of policy priorities. i'll disagree with the moral calculus but to dismiss everybody who voted for roy moore is counter productive. >> liz: there's a study in june, july, august that showed same number 91% of media coverage of the president was negative getting back to that story. it seems like there's been no change. what do you make of that? >> i wouldn't expect there could be a change because the media already ramped it up to 10. there's no place for them to go here do they go 99% things g

like karl rove, fox news contributor said -- >> karl rove is history. >> now he has no credibility. >> he's a rhino. >> dr. gorka -- >> he's a rhino? >> name calling. shame on you. >> let's lay off our own contributors for a second. the house is under siege. historically it flips when the other party is out of power. i get that. the dnc is broke. they only have about $4 million cash on hand. the rnc has about $45 million cash on hand. they have to fund raise more if they think they're going to win back anything. >> let me hit that out of the park. in alabama, in december, guess what? more democrats came out in december of 2018 than the 2014 mid-term election. those are numbers telling you that democrats will create a storm in 2018. they're going to take over the mid-term election. there's people that are upset with this president. can't sell groceries, can't sell free groceries because you know what? he's alienated the american public with his rhetoric. >> dr. gorka, go ahead. >> the only people upset with this president are the people that don't understand why america chose him on no

here now, our power panel, karl rove, chris stirewalt, mollie hemingway. welcome to all of you on this friday evening. it's been a rocky path. there's been a lot of talk about marco rubio, slamming him saying why was he so late to the table? do your homework on time, ted cruz behave like this when he was younger. >> that's a tough criticism. rubio had leverage and he used it. that language of 55-70% of fungibility, what that means is lots of people who do not have a tax burden will now escape having to pay and give money back to help with child care. >> martha: that's good policy overall. >> you can have a genuine disagreement about whether refundable tax credits are a good idea or were they should use a tax policy for social engineering, but this refundable tax credit does go to working people. the first major piece of legislation being a tax cut isn't exactly you belong. doing something that looks like it's for lower wage earners is optically good for republicans, but the question now is, rubio and lee having succeeded in extracting this from leadership,

karl rove, thank you so much. >> happy new year. >> happy new year. still to come, over a dozen countries are considering following president trump's lead and moving their embassies to jerusalem as well. general jack keane is here on why this is a significant a commitment for the united states. plus another big win for the white house as americans are feeling more optimistic for the economy and spending more on holiday shopping. why many say this is just the beginning of more good things to come next. >> confidence is at a 17 year high. [applause] it was not like that in your last administration. ights out o, ights out o, keeping me from the things i love to do. talk to your doctor, and call 844-214-2424. ♪ >> today the entire world can see that america is coming back and america is coming back rapidly and strongly. they see that with what's going on economically. >> that was president trump just last week touting the amazing rebounds the economy has made since taking office. according to a new report, from november 1st, through new year's eve chris

i have in studio me karl rove. we are going to continue to talk about this right after the brea break. >> dana: let's bring in karl rove, a fox news contributor, and to the sender of the flowers appear to thank you so much. we have been longtime friend. i have always appreciated the fact that you know what is going on before it actually happens. take a look and so this breaking news, with what just happened with the political reports that said that paul ryan may be thinking of stepping down. >> he did speak to the speaker not too long ago, and made sure that the speaker knew very clearly and in no uncertain terms that if the news was true, he was very unhappy with it. the speaker shortly president that those were not accurate reports, and that they look forward to working together for a long time. >> dana: speaker ryan is a saying that that is fake news, what do you think? >> i tended to think it is fake news. the last couple of days in washington, i was there for a couple of days, this was the cocktail christmas p

better karl rove of the world. just a. i . have. this info nick tone poem on the banks of the was written by ukrainian composer but honestly out to shinseki in one nine hundred fifty eight. ere. a the. current. one. or are. in. the. in. the. air. for for the first. the and then the good girl or the girl at the end. of the plan. the president. different from the senate and then the. event was an investment in the parent and the the. i i. but our sent in by him and it was thrilling at moments like these here it would it for you and lots more. that's the thing the more you give me the more comes back and that's how so much energy came that signed it we were all super touched up even before the concerts it felt like the very air was electrified to see it the concert was a huge success the return leg of the co-operative venture will now see the two youth orchestras play bach dunn's eighteen's new work in bon i am i the key struck yes i'm anxious about the premiere and bomb i feel like an actor with stage fright. yet . three weeks later i

karl rove is on deck to discuss that and more next. you might take something for your heart... or joints. but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember. >> rick: part of a magnolia tree planted nearly 200 years ago at the white house is now set to come down. the white house announcing the tree will be removed due to a safety risk. first lady melania signing off on that decision but is requesting the wood be preserved and seedlings be available for a new tree. it was first planted by andrew jackson all the way back in 1835. >> julie: as republicans work to maintain their momentum into 2018, now "the washington examiner" reports some republicans expressing hope that president trump's team-oriented approach to the tax bill shows he is, quote, finally learning how to legislate after some battles within the party this year. here is senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. >> we've

karl rove, thank you very much. fox news alert. president trump signed the proclamation for national pearl harbor remembrance day. let's listen. >> and all along the islands. thank you for being here. appreciate it. great guy. lawrence perry carried ammunition to the gunners, thinking about the lessons, larry said he hopes we can build up the military again. we are building up the military beyond what you ever thought. we got depleted. you know what happened over there. not with us. our budget will be higher than ever before. we're building that up again. we'll do it in your honor. okay. we're building it up. the best equipment in the world. we make it and we're supplying it. very big difference. thanks. we're doing the job. robert fernandez, robert. nice seeing you, robert. served on the uss curtis that delivered return fire against the enemy. he really gave it to them pretty good. they were very successful. good job. you look like you're about 50 years old. you must have been very young. you look great. what is the age? 93? you l

so we don't have a clear case of collusion but as you just heard from karl rove, he made a deal and so he has something more to offer, robert mueller is no fool, he wouldn't be giving a sweetheart deal to michael flynn unless mike flynn was giving him valuable that can take him up the tree so to speak in terms of bringing him closer to true authority in terms of the trump campaign. but remember that when you talk about paul manafort or rick gate who is have already been indicted, these people have been charged with conspiracy, not collusion specifically and when we talk -- chris: has nothing to do with russia. >> conspiracy that can say that conspiracy to bring russia into cooperation -- chris, no, manafort charges had to do with financial dealings and nothing to do with interference in the campaign. >> but it was -- the charge was potentially interference, foreign interference in u.s. campaign and that's conspiracy charge and that would lead you in direction to say that this is something closer to collusion but not explicit collusion. chris: congressman chaffetz, your thoughts about t

next karl rove, former advisor to president george w. bush, sounds off on the republicans who might challenge the president in 2020. we'll be right back. ♪ cannot live without it. so if you can't live without it... why aren't you using this guy? it makes your wifi awesomely fast. no... still nope. now we're talking! it gets you wifi here, here, and here. it even lets you take a time out. no! no! yes! yes, indeed. amazing speed, coverage and control. all with an xfi gateway. find your awesome, and change the way you wifi. david: could fellow republicans actually challenge president trump in to 20? "the hill" newspaper releasing a potential list of contenders. we have senator jeff flake, ben sasse, ted cruz, and governor suzanna martinez and john kasich. here so react, karl rove, former senior advisor to president gw bush and also a fox news contributor. karl, good to see you. happy new year to you. >> same to you. david: i think you need to get donald trump in 2020 while he is president, in primary fight you would need real star power.

strategist karl rove, columnist for the hill juan williams. fox news national security correspondent jennifer griffin. and former republican congressman jason chaffetz. let me say, don't get too used to this, but this is pretty darn special. as someone who has been through a special counsel investigation, what is your read on the guilty plea? how worried should president trump and his lawyers be right now? >> i don't know if president trump should be worried, but somebody's got to be worried. we know very few things, we can surmise a lot. we know michael flynn got a sweetheart deal. a guy who had enormous exposure on his dealings with russia today, paid for a speech in moscow. on behalf of the turkish government, but he ended up getting knocked on the line to the fbi. a deal that gives him no more than six months in jail if that. what we can surmise from this is that he has cut a deal because he can shed serious charges and shed light on the actions and statements of others. there are two in particular that are to be concerned today. jared kus

we'll ask former white house deputy chief of staff karl rove. plus there's this. >> it will be in front of cambridge. >> whoa, whoa, whoa. >> bill: hang on. that's a suspect speeding away and an officer holding on for dear life on the body camera on his chest. the story behind that dramatic footage coming up in a moment. bp is taking safety glasses to a whole new level. using augmented reality so engineers in the field can share data and get expert backup in the blink of an eye. because safety is never being satisfied and always working to be better. >> sandra: as we have been telling you, we're awaiting a final house vote on tax reform this morning? the gop is already celebrating a hard-fought victory. critics say this bill could become a political liability. with some even calling it the republican obamacare, dana milbank writes in the "washington post" quote, now republicans are making impossibly high promises. if anything goes wrong, if the economy doesn't boom, wages don't soar and the middle class doesn't rebound it will be the fault of th

i heard karl rove say he disagrees with that point. but as far as the general analysis is showing, trump is not a factor is what most of voters are saying. if you go on to one of the biggest distractions or factors, the sexual misconduct allegations, you have yes clocking in at 51%. no at 43%. you had senator. shelby: say i can't bring myself to vote for moore. the u.s.a.g. sessions not sharing who he voted for. that's have much his right. but since alabama is his home state, people were expecting to have a little bit more entrance parent i. taking a look at how this shakes up and the effects it could have on the senate. allegations against moore and party control of the senate are the two lines i'm most of focused on. party control of the senate. more important for a lot of voters than the allegations against moore. that clouds the picture a little bit with having a non-president trump effect. but there you have it. party control of the senate. very important only after candidates rally. we talk about the issues facing the country. pe

karl rove, thank you. merry christmas to you, my friend. >> merry christmas to you. >> melissa: move over donald trump, rosie o'donnell declares war on ben shapiro? and this one is ugly. ben is here exclusively to respond to rosy. that is coming up. how many times did president trump have to say i am not going to fire robert mueller before the media actually believes it? where does this story come from anyway? we will try to get to the bottom of it. that's next. >> i want to ask you personally what your reaction would be if the president tried to or did fire the special prosecutor. the four in one cleaning system kills 99.99% of odor causing bacteria, cleans where brushing may miss. helps remove stains and prevent stain build up. use polident daily. use polident daily. ♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year ♪ ♪ ding dong, ding dong $50 gift card for them, $10 bonus card for you. only at applebee's. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. it's the final days of the ford year end sales event. â

. >> steve is the guiding right hand, the karl rove, if you will, of the trump campaign. he's orchestrating it all: the mercers, funders of breitbart, benefactors of trump. david bossie, close friend of bannon. sessions and miller, that relationship starts with bannon and breitbart. they're all breitbart-bannon- orchestrated personnel. so that tells you who's really running the show and what's going on at that point. >> ...with that breaking news from the campaign trail, donald trump's lewd remarks about women... >> narrator: but then, a shocking revelation... >> ...they let you do it. you can do anything. grab them by the (bleep). >> narrator: ...the emergence of the access hollywood videotape. >> the trump camp has swiftly launched into disaster mode. >> people were revoking their endorsements. republicans were all coming out against trump. and we know now, internally, reince priebus was urging trump to consider getting out of the race. >> narrator: rather than give up, bannon wanted to fight back. >> bannon recommends that trump hit back 100 times harder. change the to

strategist karl rove, columnist for the hill juan williams. fox news national security correspondent jennifer griffin. and former republican congressman jason chaffetz. let me say, don't get too used to this, but this is pretty darn special. as someone who has been through a special counsel investigation, what is your read on the guilty plea? how worried should president trump and his lawyers be right now? >> i don't know if president trump should be worried, but somebody's got to be worried. we know very few things, we can surmise a lot. we know michael sweetheart deal. a guy who had enormous exposure on his dealings with russia today, paid for a speech in moscow. on behalf of the turkish government, but he ended up getting knocked on the line to the fbi. a deal that gives him no more than six months in jail if that. what we can surmise from this is that he has cut a deal because he can shed serious charges and shed light on the actions and statements of others. there are two in particular that are to be concerned today. jared kushner, born d

joining me now is karl rove former deputy chief of staff for president bush and fox news contributor. adrienne elrod served as direct for the hillary hillary clinton presidential campaign. thank you you both for being here. with regard to this cnn report, i just want to put up a statement from cnn's brian stelter. he said that a cnn spokeswoman says there will be no disciplinary action in this case because, unlike brian ross, abc, mkraju followed the editorial standards process. multiple sources provided him with the incorrect info. when you put these stories together this week, carl, what do they say about a propensity to jump to judgment without checking all the numbers and dates which are crucially important to the story? >> it shows the danger of trying to be in a rush to be the first. cnn broke the story. it was then followed by cbs. and ironically enough, the media outlet that corrected them both and blew the whistle on this was "the washington post" which said you got the dates wrong. you are conflating this. making it look like something it's not. so it's a problem in the medi

the former bush 43 deputy chief of staff karl rove. i think in oppression and push himself he overcame a lot of doubt. this is number the paper at redmond on, give away to the rich. i'm surprised historically that is the reaction initially tax cut to get when they first come up that first come up that day. i think the whole process will go? >> well, you are right. that's when he republican conservative supply-side is as a rich and in this one on the corporate side, and they are painting all corporations as evil. these are where a lot of americans work, ignoring the benefits to small business that occur in the pass-through. look, step back for just a minute. the president is behind the eight ball. we passed the tax cuts in june 2001. the bill that was passed with 55% plus approval, 35% disapproval. this one is upside down because the white house is not doing an effective job of advancing the bill in explaining it. it needs to do a better job just as the past of sending pennies to step away from explaining it. the white house seems to lo

joining us now, karl rove and also herb london. first to you, karl rove. i'm sure you saw that speech there to the fbi. the president refrained from bashing mccabe or comey or anybody else and simply praised the graduates. i think he did the right thing. >> right thing, absolutely. that was not the moment to say and do those things. those will be litigated in other venues and other ways. stuart: okay. now, i came on strong, you just heard me, and i've been doing it for a week. >> it's rare that you come on strong. [laughter] stuart: i'll take that as a compliment. [laughter] i think there is a cabal of trump haters within the bureaucracy, and they moved deliberately to skew the election. that's what i think. >> well, i think you're right. i wouldn't say a cabal. there are key actors in this drama who clearly had animosity towards trump. the interesting thing to me is when mueller got evidence of it in july, he did something extraordinary which was immediately fire peter strzok. mueller gets these e-mails which are the result of an inspector general investi

neil: to that point, i think my friend karl rove is back again. karl, i apologize for audio problems we had as we wait to hear from the president. obviously those countries now including the pope weighing in on this i think what they're saying now is not the time for this but what do you make of that argument? that with everything else going on this is not a front burner type issue that need be risked now. you say? >> well, look, first of all the assemblyman made a passionate case why this ought to be done. remember, this is deeply-felt sentiment in our country not only in the jewish community but evangelical community which feel aspects kinship with israel. a lot of people in america support this. and you're right, there is going to be people always saying it is the wrong time. i'm not worried about hamas and hezbollah, saying it is the wrong time. they're our adversaries, not our allies but what caused previous presidents to restrain themselves on this issue the input of the jordanians and saudis and other allies in the region and israel's attit

you have people like karl rove writing this morning and others saying, don't fire the special counsel. if you do, there's going to be consequences. they are trying to put in place laws in congress that would require the president to go through a court and justify a request to fire the special counsel. that's where this story is heading. i find it, there is an attempt here not only to distract and sort of derailed the mueller investigation. >> dana: isn't that what the clinton administration did during impeachment in the lewinsky scandal, turn it into the right wing conspiracy and turn it into -- basically question the political motives rather than thinking the investigation was on the outbound up. >> juan: and you got an impeachment of a president. i don't think it worked. >> dana: he was reelected. >> juan: i think we are more political times than we were even then. that was highly politicized, if you recall, with democrats favor and clinton and republicans -- >> dana: i do recall. all right, we are going to move own. u.s. olympic skier lindsey vonn making headlines about some commen

when i have a conversation with karl rove, for example, about his mother's suicide and my father committed suicide, so we had this in common, i saw a different dimension of him. when i talked to mitt romney about the impact of the implosion of his father's political career had on his own approach to politics, those are things i don't think people are used to hearing. so i think we're providing something -- >> we need more. >> yeah, i think so. >> check out "the axe files" at podcast.cnn.com. >> thanks for having me. >> we'll see you back here at this time next week. at t-mobile, when you holiday together, great things come in twos. like t-mobile and netflix. right now when you get an unlimited family plan, netflix is included. ho ho ho! t-mobile covers your netflix subscription... best christmas gift ever! ...so you can binge watch all year long. now you're thinking christmas! and now when you buy any of this season's hot new samsung galaxy phones, you get a second one free to gift. that's one samsung for you. and one to give. t-mobile. holiday twogether. i neverunderwear that's this, but

in about 2002, or 2003, we contacted carl growth who was a -- karl rove, who was a top political aide to president bush. we said, is there any chance mr. bush becoming our honorary chairman? very unusual for a sitting president to become the honorary chairman of an organization, even a nonprofit organization like ours. he said, that is interesting, let me look into it. it so happened that president bush did agree to do that. we established that relationship with him. we kept him informed with what we're doing and moving ahead with building the memorial. finally came the day, or the month when we were going to dedicate it, and we said, perhaps we can get the president to come and dedicate it and accept it for the american people. that was an incredible day when i got the phone call from the white house. then she said, this is an outside event. i said yes. well, it is going to be expensive, and that is all she said. when we met with the secret service we found out that what that meant was, a special platform with an escape hatch for the president in case there was an emergency. that cos

karl rove has an op ed today talking about president trump. apparently there's some desire on behalf of his aides that he traveled extensively to hold rallies to help in the 2018 midterm campaign. and also at the same time, we saw today a report that hillary clinton is thinking she might want to try to help in the 2018 midterm. what do you think? help or hurt for either of these two to get involved? >> look, i think if you're president, you're better off being in the white house rather than being in politics. i think for hillary clinton, she's got to decide. does she want to get back in politics? if she does, in that case she should do it. and if she doesn't, she should try to take a different role and try to build back the mutual respect i think people would have for her if she got out of politic. >> dana: do you prefer she not stay in? >> i think democrats at this point, if you look at her ratings, they are the lowest of her history. they are actually below trump's. this is not really the time to roll her out on a campaign trail by any means

karl rove, successful, scooter libby, not. they do not like the way that that went, they look back. this president is different, he says, i have a problem with the upper echelon in the fbi. i have a problem with the types of attorneys and investigators letter going off after this. don't do that, well, i did it. now it is proven correct, for those out there that think that the president is getting this the right way, i have to point out that people since a different way, on politico saying that it out probes the witch hunt phase, the probe was such a rapid conclusion which attorneys say, it is fanciful, going to continue. mueller and his team are proceeding new leads, seeing new witnesses and collecting a mountain of new evidence including subpoenaed bank records and emails. if this is true, what is he doing? what does that have to do with russia? >> it has nothing to do with russia! he has guys on things that were years before trump ever ran for president and a a couple of guys on the mail order us prospect of the fbi powers. we know that if we want to talk to the fbi for 40 minutes

the fact is karl rove wrote a column in which he said he almost got indicted for "not remembering." that's how sick it gets. >> bret: we have to leave it there. >> thank you. >> bret: we are hitting a hard break but we appreciate your time and your assessment, as always. the end of the line for the longest serving member of the house. that's coming up after the brea break. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember. the market.redict but through good times and bad... ...at t. rowe price... ...we've helped our investors stay confident for over 75 years. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. if yor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough, it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohn's. entyvio works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions

some like karl rove have suggested maybe he should stay on the sidelines and let some of these members run their own races. >> yeah. and i think that's probably smart to -- to pick and choose where you get involved. you know, and just like with president obama. you know, some places where you are going to help somebody and then there are going to be places where you hurt somebody. i think that move is exactly right. i think if democrats do run against the signature legislation that they have just passed, the key is the economy. and if the economy, if this really does for the economy what the supporters of the bill said it does will do and what president trump has predicted, i think republicans will be a lot better off. they are still going to -- i suspect, lose seats in the house. they are going to be a lot better off if the economy is booming. >> i think if they can keep that momentum going. you see more economic growth. people see bigger paychecks. they see the economy continuing to expand. they see more hiring. then voters say why change control of congress. i really think that the

karl rove, successful, scooter libby, not. they do not like the way that that went, they look back. this president is different, he says, i have a problem with the upper echelon in the fbi. rank and file i don't have a problem with. i have a problem with the types of attorneys and investigators going off after this. don't do that, well, i did it. now it is proven correct, for those out there that think that the president is getting this the right way, i have to point out that people since a different way, on politico saying that the probes the witch hunt phase, the probe was such a rapid conclusion which attorneys say, it is fanciful, it's going to continue. mueller and his team are pursuing new leads, seeing new witnesses and collecting a mountain of new evidence including subpoenaed bank records and thousands of emails. if this is true, what is he doing? what does that have to do with russia? >> it has nothing to do with russia! he has guys on things that were years before trump ever ran for president and a couple of guys unprocessed crimes, the most malodorous aspects of the fbi.

. >> lea: president trump has a huge legislative accomplishment for his administration, but karl rove in "the wall street journal" giving you this week, and i want to just put up a little bit of that on the screen for our viewers. he set up republicans to have any hope of holding congress after the midterm, mr. chapman of the political spotlight sign to match on an individual g.o.p. candidates. stepping back from the spotlight will be harder for mr. trumpian any previous president. he goes on to say that that's the only path for victory in 2018. do you think he has a point? right now, he's unpopular. >> there's different ways of doing it. he and i both served in the white house at the same time. our friend ed glass become a great guy. he just lost his right to govern a partly because of the trump factor and his unpopularity. i think he needs to give these candidates a chance to go out there by themselves. republican candidate doesn't need to be fighting the democrats and fighting the president, or fighting wings of his party divided by the president. it's not a good thing. we hope in

you do what karl rove did in the valerie plame, revise your statements, they are no longer lies. >> right. >> the other extraordinary thing about this in the flynn statement that he put out afterwards. he himself defends himself against the t word. treason. after 33 years in military service to our country including nearly five years in combat away from my family and my decision to continue to serve the united states, extraordinaire painful to endure these many months of false accusations of, puts in quotes "treason" and other outrageous acts. to me, extraordinary. for him to invoke treason begs actually more questions? >> yes, that's right. obviously pushing back somewhat against the idea that he colluded with a foreign government, inappropriate contacts with russians, and i think the story that he is trying to tell, you see it somewhat in this statement of offense that mueller released yesterday, everything he did he was directored to do. get to the question why he lied about these contacts, what we found out yesterday is, he wasn't just lying to cover up for himself. he wasn't just lyi

rove or a david axelrod to be his big picture strategist, someone that could have perhaps warned him about this, the retweeting of anti-muslim videos on the same day that he's making a tax speech. does the president need someone like that to kind of be blinders when he gets distracted? >> well if only he had somebody like that and we were all hoping it was general kelly. that's gotten thrown out the window. kelly has no more control over donald trump than any of his previous handlers have. trump is a bull who carries his own china shop around with him. he makes noise wherever he goes. he actually enjoys the fact that nobody around him knows where the sands are going to shift at any second, and that kind of chaotic rule that he has, i mean, he's the only one that really knows what's going on. if only he had a ted sorenson like john f. kennedy had. if only he had somebody like george shultz or james baker like ronald reagan had that could communicate to him in an adult and serious fashion. but alas, he's kind of a lone wolf and the people that he may have confided in, jared kushner for

for more insight, karl rove is here for that. the former white house senior adviser, deputy chief of staff. what do you think? roy moore not conceding. and apparently not indicating he's likely to. >> i don't think that's consequential. it doesn't matter. doug jones won by 1.5 points. the saw the law requires a recount if it it's less than that above that, a candidate is allowed to ask for a recount but they have to pay for it. i don't think roy moore has any intention of paying for it. i think he's going to look like a spoiled sport sitting on the line not being gracious and conceding defeat. >> what do you think happened here? >> this guy, roy moore, has been and for 25 years in alabama politics. it's a controversy. not only when he was accused of dating teenage girls. that was the latest controversy but not the only one. twice ejected from the alabama supreme court as chief justice. the first case for defying a federal court order and the second case ordering the probate judges of alabama to ignore a u.s. supreme court opinion

rove or a david axelrod played in previous administrations, sort of understanding the states and landscape and directing the white house and president on how best to prepare for the 2018 midterms. >> it touches on exactly what you're saying. i want to read a part of your piece that says how nervous trump is about the upcoming year. several friends who have seen him at mar-a-lago describe him as relaxed and smiling cocooned in his manicured villa and seeming without a worry. he's relaxed? why do you think that is? >> so i think a number of reasons. first, it's the people around him, of course, who are deeply worried and nervous. and one of the reasons is a side point they're having such a hard time bringing in a political strategist is because they all say the president is and certainly believes he's his own best strategist. while he's relaxed at mar-a-lago, this is his villa. it's his private estate. it's where he feels comfortable. it's familiar. he is surrounded by family and friends and guests who are paying huge membership fees to be there. that means they largely like him. when they s

who's his karl rove, his david axelrod, especially with steve bannon gone. some are questioning trump's decision to endorse in the first place. another official insisting that quality candidates matter, that you can't just ride an anti-establishment wave. one thought to chew on, does this race show, stephanie, that the trump playbook only applies to trump. both moore and the president had similar campaigns. it worked for the president, a celebrity. it didn't work for roy moore. >> and we have to caveat, steve bannon is not gone. he may be as close to the president, possibly even closer than ever before. he no longer is bound by the rules and regulations of the white house. he can call president trump any time he wants. i have a feeling he does. i want to bring my panel in here. republican and alabama radio host joe lockett who hosts "the joe lockett show." eli stokels, robert traynham, and of course steve, i'm going to give you my cup of tea, i haven't drank it yet. he needs it, he was up all night working. joe, you were there in alabama. >> yes. >> i want y

not particularly savvy when it comes to political chess moves and not a big karl rove figure, david axelrod figure in the white house right now. i think somebody who could be ascendant is kellyanne conway who kept a low profile through much of this year but is very much a political strategist in the white house and could play a key role in helping shape the strategy for the midterms. and you could see the addition of some outside operatives who can come in and help the president map out a game plan. >> all right. it's going to be interesting. kelly o'donnell, thank you for starting us off and spending some time with us. >>> when we come back, as republicans wage a hot war against america's premier law enforcement agency, the deputy director of the fbi testifies before republican-led committees for 16 hours. and corroborates a key piece of former director jim comey's testimony. >>> also ahead, a key witness in the hot seat. longtime donald trump aide and associate rona graft to field questions from house investigators. >>> and it was the best of times, the worst of times. pop some popcorn an

rove back in the day as well. donald trump is an outsider. he's an outsider to the republican party. he kind of took over the republican party. introduced elements to that party that historically they have rejected. for instance, he's super anti-free trade. that's new. that hasn't happened before nap is bannonism, right. so trump's access to support depends on connecting with people in a nontraditional way. steve bannon is a con duet to that, no matter how much donald trump might get mad at steve bannon right now for playing up roy moore, making him look bad and this kind of thing, that access to that type of pop u lisism is going to be something that bannon has more of an invite to then almost any mitch mcconnell that you can name so that relationship will last as long as trump is president. >> matt welch, thank you. jim messina, always good to have you, thanks for your time. >>> new allegations, new allegations against russell simmons. nine women now accuse the music mogul of sexual misconduct or in some cases r

joining us now, karl rove, fox news contributor. karl, i think it is because they are desperate. what say you? >> well, i think they are over the top and i think it is large part because they don't have a program of their own of the lack of growth agenda and your agenda is single-payer health care for america and that is it, and you don't have comprehensive agenda that speaks to the desires around businesses of middle america that is where the democrats are. their program is resistant to trump, anger against trump, it feeds on itself the more over the top the better for the republicans and president. at some point they will wake up from their stupidity but probably not for a while. stuart: that is strong word there, karl. very strong. >> it is stupid. parties that lose elections generally try to get back on their feet, examining themselves, finding out what went wrong and fixing the problems, offering a positive agenda to the american people. now, they may be okay after looking at virginia and saying, all we had to do is be angry about trump and we turned out voters, but over the

karl rove former deputy chief of staff to george w. bush and fox news contributor austin, texas, the vote is tuesday, six days away and wow. how do you reconcile the back and forth that's happening within the party and the reaction you're getting? >> well the republican party is disrupted over this. there are a lot of people who believe that roy moore ought to be the next senator because he is a god-fearing man who fought on behalf of christian values in alabama for decades and there are a lot of people in alabama and elsewhere who don't think he ought to be in the senate because he has been accused by four credible sources of sexual misconduct including one relationship with a 16-year-old. the party is disrupted over this. i understand lewandowski and bossie being wired up about party unity and how dare he do this. everybody has a chance to speak out. president trump as a private individual in 2006-2007 called for the impeachment of george w. bush. i don't think either mr. lewandowski or bossie were in favor of that, either. >> bill: