Roy Moore Holds Fiery Press Conference.
ACOSTA: This hour's breaking news, as he left the White House today, President Trump finally weighed in on the Roy Moore controversy, repeatedly telling reporters Moore, quote, "totally denies it" and calling Moore's opponent a liberal who's terrible on crime. Also said he was soft on crime, the military and the border. The president isn't ruling out campaigning for Moore, saying he will let us all know, quote, "next week." We have a lot to talk about with our political specialists, including my colleague Kaitlan Collins, who's in Alabama right now. What did you make of the president coming out so strongly in support of Roy Moore today? I don't think we really saw that coming.</s>KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, we didn't, and a lot of people in the White House didn't even see that coming, Jim, because as you know, when we were in Asia for the president's foreign trip, the White House put out this statement from the president, saying that the allegations against Roy Moore were deeply troubling and that, if they proved to be true, that Moore should step aside from the race. But then we saw Kellyanne Conway, the counselor to the president, go on FOX News yesterday and hit Doug Jones, his Democratic opponent, and say that a vote for Doug Jones is a vote against tax reform, and she stopped short of endorsing Roy Moore. Now we know that Kellyanne Conway spoke with the president before that interview and, seemingly, the president approved of what she was going to say on television, because then he came out on the South Lawn today and said the same thing to reporters about Roy Moore, where he went after Doug Jones and stopped short of saying the words, "I endorse Roy Moore."</s>ACOSTA: Yes. He appeared to be in the turkey pardoning mood today, Kaitlan. That's right. As the president came out with his endorsement, the Moore campaign was holding a news conference. What did they have to say?</s>COLLINS: It was a pretty fiery press conference just here on the steps of this building behind me here in Montgomery. And it was these three men who came out to really vouch for Roy Moore's character. A lot of them have worked for him for several decades, and they also wanted to discredit the women who have accused Roy Moore of sexual assault. They focused on two specifically, and those were Leigh Corfman, the woman who says she was just 14 years old when she met Roy Moore, and then Beverly Nelson, who was a 15-year-old waitress at the Old Hickory House, a restaurant in Gadsden, Alabama, where Roy Moore is from. And just to give you a sense, Jim, of how small of details they were attempting to discredit here. Beverly Nelson has said that Roy Moore, when he was giving her a ride, he drove her to the back of that restaurant and attempted to assault her. Now they were saying that -- they discredited her story by saying that in her story she said the Dumpsters were on the back of the restaurant when, in fact, they're on the side of the restaurant. And she said it was a very darkly -- poorly lit area, and they're saying it's very well-lit. So it really just gives you a sense of what exactly they're shooting for here, trying to discredit these accusers. And they also went after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the media. They kept saying the fake news. And then just shortly after that press conference is over, they sent out a press release touting the president's remarks on the South Lawn. So it's safe to say they feel like they have the full support of the White House behind them here, Jim.</s>ACOSTA: Discrediting accusers and cries of fake news, I feel like we've seen this movie before. David Chalian, the president is not ruling out campaigning for Roy Moore. That's also kind of remarkable, isn't it? I mean, you would think the president, even after saying what he said today, might want to avoid that.</s>DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Right. Although he was making clear today that he is on team Moore. I mean, he didn't leave any doubt for that today, and that is what Kellyanne was sort of previewing yesterday. And so of course, it makes sense that he then would keep open the possibility of campaigning for him. He's on team Moore. And what is astonishing is that Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has now basically endorsed an accused child molester for the United States Senate. He is going to go down there, perhaps, if he does, and, Jim, I'm telling you, he's going to help Roy Moore. I -- what that press conference, what the Moore campaign was doing, they were getting their base back enlivened and engaged in this race. They were pushing back full force and saying, "We're not going anywhere, so stick with us." And so the core Trump supporters who overlap a lot with the core Moore supporters are going to be feeling energized now to have the president on board with this campaign.</s>MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: They're making it a culture war right now. And they have been, up to this point. They haven't been so successful. As Kaitlan was pointing out, they had very weak arguments to try to discredit these women. I mean, it was ridiculous arguments. But if you watched that news conference today and if anyone hasn't seen it, I suggest you go online and you look at what they had to say. Because they veered way off to the right. And so far to the right where they were attacking folks who are transgendered or the transgendered community, saying that the Democratic opponent was weak on crime. And we also heard that parroted, by the way, by Donald Trump. Remember, this gentleman, Doug Jones, prosecuted two KKK members for killing four African-American girls in 1963, in the '60s, the bombing. So...</s>ACOSTA: Also, aren't you soft on crime when you are taking Roy Moore's word over these accusers and saying, "Well, this was 40 years ago"? I remember when Donald Trump was parading Bill Clinton's accusers at one of the debates during the campaign. Their accusations go back many, many years. And so who's soft on crime?</s>CHALIAN: It's a good point. Why doesn't the same standard apply? Bill Clinton denies those allegations in the way that Roy Moore denies these allegations.</s>SERFATY: Right. Keep in mind, obviously, this is important for the politics of the race in Alabama hugely, but this is right in the middle of a huge cultural moment for our country that is beyond the Senate race. And as a woman watching President Trump on the South Lawn today, what struck me the most was the fact that he, at the same time, was talking -- you know, praising women who had come forward and now their allegations of sexual misconduct, speaking about this moment on the Hill, praising them. Saying it's a good thing that they're coming forward but also at the same time supporting Roy Moore and -- and really not coming out in any way against what he's been charged, believing the -- Moore over these women. And that is a moment of leadership I think was missed today.</s>ACOSTA: And Doug Jones is trying to capitalize on this backlash against the Republican Party. He's obviously risen in the polls. Let's take a look at this ad and talk about it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Roy Moore's disturbing actions, Ivanka Trump says, "There's a special place in hell for people who prey on children, and I have no reason to doubt the victims' accounts." Jeff Sessions says, "I have no reason to doubt these young women." And Richard Shelby says he will "absolutely not" vote for Roy Moore. Conservative voices putting children and women over party, doing what's right.</s>ACOSTA: And, Kaitlan -- Kaitlan Collins, let me go to you, let's talk about that ad and also what are we hearing in terms of what the president's comfort level was with all of this and how that might have been driving this decision here to come out so heavily in favor of Roy Moore today?</s>COLLINS: Yes, I mean, the president showed us where he truly stands today, despite what other White House officials have said. But I wonder what Ivanka Trump thinks of the president's remarks today, because as we saw just there, she said that, in light of these Roy Moore allegations, that there's a special place in hell for people who prey on children, but then her father who like Sunlen said, praising women, saying they should come out and this is really a moment of reckoning for these women coming out and making these allegations, but then he's saying he believes Roy Moore -- saying Roy Moore denies it which is essentially saying he believes Roy Moore when he denies these allegations. And also mentioned the fact that these allegations came out 40 years ago, which is often the reason women don't come out with sexual assault allegations. It's because they do not feel they will be believed. If a lot of time has passed, people often raise the question of why now? Leigh Corfman, one of the accusers, was asked about that directly during an interview yesterday, and she said that she stayed silent for so long, because she wanted to protect her children, and that she was coming out now only because she had been approached by reporters. So those don't seem to go hand in hand. But we are seeing the president come out and make these remarks about Roy Moore. And you have to question where people inside the White House feel about the president's stance on that now, Jim.</s>PRESTON: You know, Jim, that ad is -- while it seems very simple, it's very important for three reasons. Using Jeff Sessions's words to try to get the social conservatives, those who might still be on the fence, thinking "I want Roy Moore there because of my belief in social conservatism, but I don't know if I can get there." Richard Shelby because he's an establishment -- he's conservative but a long-term establishment Republican in Alabama. And Ivanka Trump because she appeals to younger women, younger Republican women who might be supporting of her father but yet are following her lead. While it seems very simple, it's actually very effective.</s>CHALIAN: The Trump trajectory here that you were talking about, though, on the Asia trip you were on, wanting to stay out of it. Clearly, today getting in the middle of it. What changed in Donald Trump's thinking to go from wanting to stay out of it to get in the middle of it? It seems to me he was on the wrong side of this primary. He understood that the Bannon wing and his base of the party is still with Roy Moore for the most part, and he did not want to be crosswise with his own core supporters yet again in this race.</s>ACOSTA: And I've been -- I've been contacted by a Republican source who talks to the White House as we've been speaking here, who is also saying that the White House believes it's very important to keep the margin where it is in the United States Senate. As they creep closer to the Democrats having the majority in the Senate, a lot of things change up on Capitol Hill.</s>CHALIAN: Mitch McConnell thinks that -- Mitch McConnell thinks that's important, too, but he says he believes the women.</s>ACOSTA: But he's still standing on principle, yes.</s>SERFATY: They're at odds here. McConnell and the other Republicans who say they believe the women.</s>PRESTON: If he gets seated, Jim, let's see how functional the United States Senate is. Because I bet you it will not be.</s>ACOSTA: All right. Obviously, we have a lot to talk about here on this, and we'll talk about more when we come back. We'll be back in just a few moments.