Sessions Denies Lying under Oath about Russia Contacts.
BERMAN: All right. This morning, Roy Moore is still in the Alabama Senate race, but national Republicans are calling to drop out because of the on the record statements from women that he molested a 14-year-old girl and sexually assaulted a 16-year-old. The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, he has an idea who he thinks he would like to get in the race. Watch.</s>SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: The name being most often discussed may not be available, but the Alabamian who would fit that standard would be the attorney general, who was totally well known and extremely popular in Alabama. That, obviously, would be a big move for him and for the president.</s>NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Poppy. Conservative leaders are increasingly abandoning ship on Roy Moore, even while he maintains some support here throughout the state. You have conservative leaders drawing into question Moore's character, asking him to explain the inconsistencies of his defense of these sexual assault allegations. Other conservative leaders asking him to flat-out withdraw. It was yesterday we heard from Attorney General Jeff Sessions who says he has no reason not to believe the women who are alleging sexual assault. And we're also hearing from top Republican, Mitch McConnell, who drew into question the character of Roy Moore, also suggested that Sessions might be a good write-in candidate. And it's Moore who's punch back on McConnell in a tweet that he sent, questioning the leadership of Mitch McConnell. Saying, "Mitch McConnell is attempting to subvert the will of Alabamians yet again, this time helping elect a far-left Democrat!" We're also hearing from Roy Moore at a campaign rally yesterday, calling this a spiritual war at a church yesterday, remaining defiant, and saying that he -- in one case didn't even know the woman accusing him of sexual assault.</s>ROY MOORE (R), SENATE CANDIDATE: After 40-something years of fighting this battle, I'm now facing allegations. And that's all the press want to talk about. But I want to talk about the issues. I want to talk about where this country is going. And if we don't come back to God, we're not going anywhere.</s>VALENCIA: Moore's supporters have done a lot to try to discredit the women that have come forward with stories of either sexual assault or relationships attempted by Moore with these young women. And this race is growing tighter, as Moore is just in a few points ahead of his Democratic challenger, Doug Jones. And that says a lot, guys, considering the last time a Democrat was elected to Senate here was about 20 years ago. Poppy, John?</s>HARLOW: Nick Valencia reporting for us. Thank you. Roy Moore says he wants to talk about the issue. An issue is multiple allegations on the record of sexual assault.</s>BERMAN: Sexually molesting a 14-year-old might be an issue for some people.</s>HARLOW: That's an issue. That's an issue. Our panel is back. Gentlemen, thank you for being here. Doug, to you, overnight, the RNC's poll funding and Sean Hannity - I mean, you know, said something that I think surprised a lot of folks. He's you know one of the only journalists who interviewed -</s>HEYE: Journalist --</s>HARLOW: Journalists. He's one of the only figures who interviewed -- thank you -- Roy Moore. And now he's saying -- he's turning on him. Listen to this.</s>SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: For me, the judge has 24 hours. You must immediately and fully come up with a satisfactory explanation for your inconsistencies that I just showed. You must remove any doubt. If you can't do this, then Judge Moore needs to get out of this race. This country has way too many issues and problems.</s>HARLOW: So, why cut the cord now? I mean, this is Mitch McConnell, this is the RNC funding. This is Sean Hannity, who obviously has the president's ear. The president hasn't said anything yet, but why the turn now?</s>HEYE: Well, I think it's becoming clear in some of the private polling that we're seeing that Doug Jones would win, Roy Moore would lose. And obviously, Republicans don't want to lose the Senate seat. But for me, it's -- you know, so many people have said, gosh, it's amazing that we're going to this point where we may have to potentially unseat a senator who's just been elected. If you look at what's happened with Republicans over the past five years, I don't know why anybody is surprised. We had Christine O'Donnell, Sharon Engle, the Bush tax cut failure to pass the extension, we have the government shutdown, Eric Cantor's loss, which I kind of remember a little closely, John Boehner's retirement. We still have more to go before we finally hit rock bottom, which is crazy when you consider that we have the House, the Senate and a majority of governors. But that's the Armageddon that we're potentially heading into for next November.</s>BERMAN: So, Brian Fallon, the Jeff Sessions' notion, Jeff Sessions, maybe put him in there as a write-in candidate. The big questions are there. Would he do it? Could he win? Would the president want him to do it? And what would be the implications of that if the attorney won?</s>HARLOW: They won.</s>FALLON: Donald Trump, obviously, the opportunity to pick a new attorney general, one presumably that wouldn't have to be recused from the ongoing Mueller investigation. So I think that that prospect is quite dangerous. But I think the idea is not even a sure thing for Republicans. Because as much name I.D. as Jeff Sessions does have, anytime you're waging a write-in campaign, running against another Republican whose name is actually on the ballot, you have the potential to split the vote on the Republican side. It may make Doug Jones' chances in Alabama, the Democratic candidates all the better. I think -- I don't often have too many nice things to say about Mitch McConnell, but I do think you have to give him a nod. 48 hours ago, it was not at all clear that you'd see the likes of the RNC and Sean Hannity abandoning Roy Moore, but I think when Mitch McConnell came out and said, "I believe the women," that was a turning point. I'm sure he has his alternative motives. He wants to keep the seat. He's in a long-term war with Steve Bannon who has backed Roy Moore, but he did do the right thing here. And it's potentially made this seat more vulnerable. And you can't underestimate the stakes of how important control of this seat is because what the retirement of Jeff Flake in Arizona, with the vulnerability of Dean Heller in Nevada. If the Democrats can pull off this upset in Alabama, you would have a legitimate chance next November to actually take back the Senate, which no one would have thought possible a few weeks ago. And unlike sometimes when the Democrats are caught unprepared not having a good candidate in some of these deeply red stakes because they're not expecting it to be competitive. Dick Jones is a great candidate, former federal prosecutor who tried a big civil rights case from 50 years ago, arson case involving a church bombing down in Alabama. And so, and the national Democrats are handling this just right. They're staying the heck away, not allowing Republicans to try to nationalize this race down there. He's doing a good job and this might create a real serious pickup opportunity that might have ramifications for control of the Senate next year.</s>HARLOW: All right. Ryan Lizza, I want to address something else. The president just took to Twitter, to make a statement. Let's read it. "Do you think the three UCLA basketball players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!" Obviously, he had conversations with President Xi of China. They were being held in their hotel room awaiting trial. They are home on U.S. soil. What do you make of the president writing this?</s>LIZZA: It's classic Trump. If he does something that he thinks he deserves appreciation for, he's usually the first one to point it out. Other presidents might just allow the appreciation to come naturally. I'm sure there would be a lot of discussion in the press about how he was responsible for this. I'm sure the UCLA players are appreciative that -- if he had something to do with this, which it seems like he clearly did. But Trump does not have any unventilated thoughts and one of the things he likes is a claim for actions he believes he deserves a claim for. So, classic Donald Trump I think we would be surprised if he wasn't tweeting about this.</s>BERMAN: Do we think this is happening in a vacuum for his ongoing feud with many athletes in multiple sports over the last month?</s>LIZZA: Huh, I hadn't thought of it that way, John, to be honest. Maybe that's in the back of his mind, but I think - look, when he does something, he gets very agitated if he does not get an outpouring of support and a claim. You know, sometimes my title here is political analyst. Sometimes you need a psychological analyst for Trump. But he does seem to have a -- be very needy when it comes to appreciation and praise for something he believes he did that deserves it.</s>HEYE: And John and Poppy, I'm wearing my north Carolina Tar Heels tie, and I would tell you that unless it's congratulating the Tar Heels for winning the national championship, Donald Trump, please don't tweet at my alma mater.</s>HARLOW: Gentlemen -</s>BERMAN: Doug Heye, Ryan Lizza, Brian Fallon, all the important things. Thank you so much, gentlemen. All right, the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, we were just talking about maybe his next job, but what about his current job? And did he lie under oath when he was trying to get it? We're going to talk to a key member of Congress about that, next.