me. i guess you would say. and during the course of that, he removed my clothing. he 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. at that point i pulled back and said i was not comfortable and he took me home. but i was a 14-year-old child trying to play in an adult's world. and he was 32 years old. >> roy moore denies these allegations and further says he does not even know you. >> up wonder how many me's he doesn't know. >> oh, my god. these are pretty graphic and pretty specific details. what are you hearing from the

campaign this morning? how did they ignore this? this isn't mitch mcconnell and the washington elite. leigh corfman, this is a woman from alabama. >> reporter: hi, stephanie. yes, powerful words from leigh corfman, the first accuser that came out 11 days ago. i'm standing in front of the courthouse where she says she met roy moore 40 years ago. the campaign has not responded directly to this interview. and for days, they have not responded specifically to the latest allegations. they have continued to deny all of them, kind of a blanket denial. now, this morning, roy moore's twitter account, he did tweet two things and said, good morning, alabama. day six of new york attorney gloria allred's refusal to turn over the red book, that's of beverly nelson, who claims she has roy moore's signature on it. gloria allred said she would

turn it over to an investigator if roy moore would testify under he oath in a senate hearing. he did speak out in a radio interview out last night. let's take a listen. >> they build up matters, supposedly of a sexual up propriety, which never happened, never would have happened and never would have been brought up because -- but to detract this campaign from arguing the issues which mightily affect our country,." >> reporter: so, stephanie, roy moore's campaign says that he has no planned events today. he's not responded directly to leigh corfman's interview this morning, the first television interview, and he seems largely to be ignoring his democratic opponent doug jones, but he did tweet this morning saying that a vote for doug jones would be a vote not to build a wall.

and he mentioned that trying to throw his support behind some of president trump's policies. and trying to fight the establishment. again, last night he tweeted against mitch mcconnell, but no direct response so far to the corfman interview this morning. back to you, stephanie. >> that interview, gabe gutierrez, in alabama. with us now, white house reporter for bloomberg, shannon petty. and with me, bill cohen, and nbc analyst and former spokesman for ted cruz's campaign, rick tyler. listening to these are brutal accusations, but put that aside, and i know that's not easy, at the end of the day, is it going to matter to voters in alabama? >> it's really hard to predichblgt it all depends on who shows up. and if the republican base is stressed enough and if there are

enough independents and democrats coming in. there's a lot of money coming in for doug, so there's an energy in the democratic party, but not enough democrats in alabama. it would be better for the republican party honestly as you're speaking as a republican for doug jones to win. because we can beat him easily like any other republican in alabama. if roy moore becomes a u.s. senator, this process could go on for many, many weeks. and it will hurt the republican party in the 2018 election, not only do the republicans not have any substantial achievements to run, but they are going to welcome into their ranks an accused pedophile. >> what dangerous territory is it, though, if he wins and republicans expel him or the senate expel homes before he takes his seat? because at the end of the day, no matter how vile the accusations are, i can't even believe i'm saying this, but just playing devil's advocate, no matter how vile the allegations are, they are not

proven in a court of law. so if republicans removed him, expelled him before he took that seat, is that not a slippery slope from them when they have to look in the mirror with dirty dogs sitting in congress right now? >> and there's apparently a dirty dog sitting in the white house, too. i mean -- >> we did play that "access hollywood" tape on friday. happy to play it any day. >> the truth of all these allegations, the truth is, none of them yet have been proven in a court of law. you know, they have all been highly well-reported articles in reputable mainstream media. and online media. and a lot of people who have been accused in these media formats came forward to say, i apologi apologize, i didn't do what i said or what has been alleged. obviously, none of this has been

adjudicated in a court of law. and that is something to think about. i can't believe i'm saying that either, but it is something to think about. the legal process is, in fact, shaping up in some cases. and we'll go through what it should have probably done a long time ago. >> here's what is so exciting. if, at the end of the day, none of these people have been taken to court or put in jail, at the end of the day, we keep saying this is a moment when everything is changing and it is a moment of reckoning. america is waking up. is america waking up? we listened to the "access hollywood" tape. president trump had 12 accusers with detailed stories that were disconnected from one another. and that "access hollywood" tape and he won. roy moore could win here. so the at the end of the day when we say times are changing, are they really? >> after harvey weinstein, it seemed like a cultural shift. we don't see them often, but one thing we have to remember is that with sexual accusers,

people say, why do they all come out at once? they come out at once because they believe they are isolated. who am i to go against the most important person in the state? as soon as one speaks up, that's why we have so many. but there's a toxic environment created in large part by donald trump and others, both in the left and right wing media basically saying the other news is fake news. and people who get up in the morning and never listen to a liberal point of view, or never listen to a republican point of view, they really in their camps. now the other is evil. and i think we need to start listening to each other more. if roy moore is elected for the senate, i think it is institutional to the senate. >> the president and others go after the media saying that we

are making the news more el haven't. i argue that the news is more relevant than ever. look at the subscribership that we have, the courageousness and the bravery that is happening in investigative reporting. it is exexaggerated. >> one of the stories is that it was coming from the jeff bezos/amazon/"washington post"s or whatever. >> didn't the local papers in alabama today save the discussion? >> that was the immediate line of attack they went to. this is straight out of the steve bannon playbook. attack the messenger or media. don't back down. he is taking her strategy of atalking the accusers and the

ratings are all going up. at the same time, you see the rise of breitbart and fox news continuing to have a stronghold in that area. and you see other conservative websites coming up. i think there's no doubt that think at this time they don't know what to do. the taxes are very effective. >> my thing about breitbart is praising and adoring steve bannon. it is like i'm going to start a median outlet and sign off on them for 2018. i want to share an important question that was asked the of leigh corfman, many said, this story is 40 years old now. >> i wanted to walk into this office and say, hey, remember

me? you need to knock this stuff off. i need to go public. my children were small, so i didn't do it. the second time, i actually sat down with my kid who are of age and gave them the ability to make the decision. they were afraid that with all of their social connections they would be casticated in their groups. >> you had to tell your kids. >> i had to tell my kids, right. we decided together we wouldn't do it at that time. so when "the washington post" sought me out, i didn't go looking for this. this fell in my lap. it literally fell in my laugh. and i had to make the decision. and i told them, the reporters

who were just wonderful to me, that if they found additional people, that i would tell my story. and they found those people. >> shep didn't want to tell her story for a long time. she buried it and put it away. what does this take to come forward 40 years later? whether we are talking about leigh corfman and now women in a position of power, there are women in all sorts of power industries now that look back on their former careers. i spend 15 years on wall street. at the time, you had to take it. >> i worked on a book and

revealed what happened ten years ago with the way women were treated. we reached a tipping point as malcolm and hemingway said, you fall in love a little at a time. i think we have reached a point where it is safe to come forward. i give leigh corfman credit for coming forth. but there are a lot of women who have not come forward yet. and that also is a personal decision. it is troubling. you have to change the -- >> they just started to have conferences in miami, arizona, las vegas. also this morning, there's a new report that senator all franken grabbed a woman's behind at a fair back in 2010. he says he doesn't remember

doing it. and he apologized to the woman if she felt disrespected. nbc news has not confirmed this yet. i turn to you, al franken says she doesn't remember it. how slippery -- again, i am not excusing that behavior. >> obviously not. >> how slippery a slope is it? again, i'm just speaking as somebody who spent 15 years of her life working on wall street. but if other going to started to go after everyone in every power industry for something like a butt slap, i'm worried there's going to be no one left. >> al franken said if you offend someone in this, are they going to be more people to be seen. that's a little strange.

usually when -- the most disappointing to me are the christian leaders. back in joshua, they worshipped baal, molik and ashtura, ashtura was the god of sexuality. >> christians also don't praise false idols and prophets and roy moore autographs bibles. doesn't that seem strange to you? >> i don't know if it seems strange. but roy moore has not -- the only thing he says is, i have not engaged in sexual inpropriety. he has not denied dating women younger than this. all the women defending this say

it's not okay. it is common for people to date or marry those who are decades apart in age when they are consenting adults. but a 14-year-old? that's no adult. now to a development overnight, charles manson dead. one of the most dangerous killers of the 21st century dieing in a california prison. gadi schwartz is in the los angeles bureau. gadi, what happened? >> reporter: here's an important voice in this saga we are hearing from now. the sister of sharon tate, one of the victim's of charles manson, and she said she put a lot of thought into this and offering a very important perspective. she said charles manson was only one person, one tentacle of an octopus, as she describes it. and one person that was responsible for her sister's death. she has prayed about it and

forgiven him but will never forget. he was behind the slaying of seven people in what is called helter skelter. he said he was the devil but would be sentenced to death. at 8:13 charles manson died. back to you. >> charles manson said he would live forever. charles manson, you're dead. if you believe in reincarnation, you are a cockroach. and if you are a christian, you're burning in hell. coming up, president trump going after a familiar gop target. but jeff flake said this caught on tape and how there's new speculation he may give trump a run for his money in 2020.

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welcome back. i'm stephanie ruhle. president trump lashing out at arizona senator jeff flake after this hot mike moment over the weekend. >> come the party of roy moore and donald trump, we -- >> and i'm not throwing smoke at you, but you're the guy, think of how fun it could be to be the foil and to point out what an idiot this guy is. >> okay. >> funny. maybe he's not laughing now. nobody likes a hot mike moment. kristen welker at the white house, kristen, it would seem to me that the president who needs every republican vote he can get on his tax cut plan might not want to get into a tit for tat with members of his own party, but who am i to judge, he's the president. >> reporter: right, policy never stopped him from engaging in twitter feuds before, steph. that's for sure. let me read you the president's

latest tweet and do analysis on the other side. the president responding to that hot mike moment by saying, senator jeff flakey who is unelectable in the great state of arizona was caught purposely on mike saying bad things about your favorite president. he'll be a no on tax cuts because his political career anyway is toast. now, a couple of things, jeff flake has announced he's not running for re-election in 2018 and hasn't weighed in yet on whether or not he's a yes or no on the tax proposal. they are sort of in negotiations about all that. no surprise that these two are battling. jeff flake would announce that he was not running for re-election, essentially excoriated president trump and president trump fired back at that. but you're right, steph, the timing of this is different. it comes at this very critical moment when the president wants to get tax reform passed. and over the weekend, the white house signaled a potential compromise that they would be willing to drop that very controversial language that would essentially scrap the

obamacare individual mandate. that move, having that in the senate bill, is alienating a lot of moderate republicans. the white house saying, hey, we're open to compromise on that very big development that could be undercut by all the twitter feuds we're seeing over the weekend from the president. the president will sit down with his entire cabinet in a few hours from now, steph. and i anticipate tax reform will be front and center at that meeting as he tries to really shift the focus away from his weekend online battles. >> listen, throwing this obamacare gun in is a clever move on the part of president trump's team. because they are throwing it in, and if they take it out, look, it's a big win and will make people like susan collins so happy. all the while, no one paying attention to the core things that have been in that bill from the get-go that will be so detrimental to so many people across the united states. i want to ask briefly, though, it was not just jeff flake that in the president got into it

with over the weekend. it was a father of one of the basketball players from china arrested for shoplifting. we have to say, it was lavar ball who is not just the father of a basketball player, but lavar ball in his own right is a promoter, a salesman and maybe he was baiting the president here. >> reporter: well, that's what the white house officials say. look, this is not someone stranger to controversy. he was clearly wading into what he knew would be very rocky waters, if you will, when he lashed out at the president. he essentially said that the president didn't play as big a role in freeing his son. now, look, it's important to point out, steph, his son did thank the president. but that was not good enough for president trump. he lashed out at lavar ball saying now that three basketball players are out of china and safe from three years in jail, the father is unacceptable what i did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. i should have left them in jail.

he said, shoplifting is a big deal in china, as it should be. five to ten years in jail. but now the father of lavar said, should have gotten my son out in my next trip to china instead. adam schiff firing back at the president, he's a democratic congressman saying, the president would have left american students in a foreign jail because their families didn't lavish sufficient praise on him. how can someone in such a big office be so mall? small? bottom line, for a lot of the president's supporters and republicans, this is yet another distraction to take away from the key policy issues that they want to be focused on, particularly, president trump said he wants a tax victory before christmas. that's going to be very tough to get done. that's a very tight timeline. republicans saying, this doesn't help that timeline at all. steph? >> let's just be glad the boys are home. let's say thank you to the president who was in china at the time. and let's move on. >> there you go. >> reporter: people in this

country really need help. kristen welker, thank you. i have bill cohen, rick tyler, what are we going to start with? let's go -- let's start with tax reform. re re we know there's no love lost between the president and jeff flake. but why does it make sense for the president to have the battles over the weekend? >> he has a cognitive defect when it comes to being attacked and can't set that aside and look at the long goal. there's no long goal with him. it is -- jeff flake dishonored me or disrespected me and i'm going to hit him back, even if it costs him the winning vote or the vote to pass his tax cut plan. it is really extraordinary. >> what do you think of the point i'm trying to make on the throwing in at the last minute, this gutting of obamacare? i actually think this is just a big diversion. you put it in, pull it back out and suddenly susan collins says, thank you very much, i'll give you a yes vote. >> this guy who is the master of

cognitive distance is the master of the head-fake. something completely irrelevant that diverts our attention from what he's really doing, which is trying to pass a tax plan that will probably cause the next recession. as i wrote about it in "vanity fair" today. this is probably going to cause the next recession because by eliminating the deduction for state and local taxes, you will increase the cost of housing for people, which means you're going to decrease the value of people's homes, which means their single biggest asset will make them feel the poorest they have in years. and that will affect consumer spending and the result of the kickoff of the next recession. the president, this tax plan should be dead in the water. it makes absolutely no sense to the american people, to the people he's pledged he's going to help, and what does he do? he fills up the air space with, you know, trying to kill off jeff flake who could be the key vote in this matter. and telling me about ucla

basketball players. >> tax reform happens once every 30 years. what could the long-term impact cause? it could cause a recession, but you have hugh hewitt saying this could cost the stock market to go down. it doesn't mat for the stock market goes down. the stock market is an irrational force that shouldn't be an indicator or a cause to create tax changes. >> no, of course it shouldn't. i'm very skeptical we'll get a tax bill passed. the reason is to get large-scale support. >> other than that, mrs. lincoln. >> it is just like physics or science. i mean, it has to -- you can just look at it and say public support, political capital, they don't have it, not going to happen. >> it doesn't have public support but it doesn't have the public outrage health care had. and in terms of political will,

it is not just the president. you have paul ryan. if he doesn't get something done by december 31st, 2013, he's afraid he could go up in smoke. >> the repeal of the mandate, which i'm actually for, gave them a number, which enabled them to stay within the reconciliation. but that's all in the reduce. that's the reason that is in there. but i think it is interesting because eight of ten people don't pay health insurance or pay the tax fine. and in one sense, it is dynamic scoring to say all the people are going to leave the market. i'm not sure that is going to happen or not happen, yet on the upside, we don't do dynamic scoring. so people try and -- >> it works both ways. next, a crew of 44 missing after an argentinian submarine went off the coast of the atlantic. what they are doing to help find the missing sub. five countries are now trying to

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welcome back. i'm stephanie ruhle. back now with a look at the day's headlines. regulators are expected to make a decision on whether to improve the root of the proposed keystone xl pipeline in the state. and it's a controversial $8 billion project that complete

the line delivering oil from alberta, canada, to the texas gulf coast. today's decision is the last major regulatory hurdle facing transcanada corporation. this has prompted massive protest as this will project was rejected by president obama in 2015 citing environmental concerns but revived by president trump back in march. zimbabwe's ruling party voted to oust long-time leader robert mugabe telling the president he must resign today or face impeachment. mugabe addressed the state on nation tv sunday widely announcing he will step aside, but he didn't. instead, he said he has no plans to leave power. the 93-year-old mugabe has led zimbabwe since 1980 and is the world's oldest head of state. and this morning the iconic georgia dome in atlanta reduced to rubble after 25 years. the former home of the atlanta falcons hosted some 37 million people over the years and is the only facility in the world to

host the olympics, super bowl and the final four. the u.s. navy and air force have joined the search for a missing submarine from argentina. 44 crew members are on board. the sub has been out of contact since wednesday from its last known location in the south atlantic. in this video on your screen, you can see the u.s. navy's undersea rescue command unit. the team is loading deep sea rescue pods onto aircraft expected to arrive in argentina early this week. nbc correspondent keir simmons is joining me from london with more on this. keir, what is going on? >> reporter: well, the clock is ticking, stephanie. and it is looking more and more bleak, honestly. we now know from argentina that the submarine did communicate some mechanical problems during its trip that began last wednesday. we also know that there had been hope that the signals that were received over the weekend, which lasted just a few seconds, one,

the longest, 36 seconds long, there was a suggestion that the submarine was trying to make contact, but that doesn't appear to be the case. the fiofficials in argentina do not believe it was from the submarine. so a desperate hunt is underway from countries around the world helping, getting there as quickly as possible, including the u.s. the u.s. now has a p3 and a p8 aircraft already in the area. that is the same kind of aircraft as was used to try to hunt for the mh-370. so there is an air operation in hand and also the same time a marine operation because if these crew are still alive, then they will be somewhere off the coast of argentina. but some estimates are that this kind of submarine perhaps only has a week before all hope is lost, honestly. >> only has a week.

and how long since it lost contact? you have 44 people on board. >> reporter: that's right, exactly. it set off last wednesday. we thought over the weekend it had made contact, but that turns out not to be the case. stephanie, let me just tell you a little bit more about the kinds of assets that the u.s. is sending now. more assets, a submarine, a kind of a pod that can go down to depths of 850 feet. and another vehicle that can drop to 2,000 feet. so even now, the u.s. sending assets that would be able to go and rescue these 44 crew members if they can find them and honestly right now that seems like a big if. but the seas there are very, very rough, stephanie. and they are talking about two-story high buildings the size of the waves off the coast. that makes it even more challenging. >> i have been in a pod a

thousand feet down and all you can see is pure black. all right, keir, thank you so much. this story is disturbing. we'll continue to cover it and our thoughts and prayers with the 44 crew members on board. we'll take a break. two months after hurricane maria and millions still living without clean drinking water and electricity in puerto rico. san juan's mayor taking another stand over the weekend. >> outside of san juan, there are still people drinking from creeks and people walking through rivers to get to the outside to get food. and people that are on life support that can't get their entire medication. and today, former president bill clinton is stepping up to help get the island back on its feet. we'll explain how. (avo) when you have type 2 diabetes, you manage your a1c,

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welcome back. i'm stephanie ruhle sitting in for hallie jackson. puerto rico is struggling for basic necessities. it's been 60 days since two major hurricanes ripped through the caribbean. we're talking about safe drinking water and reliable electricity. the basic necessities. today, former president bill clinton is making a humanitarian trip to the island. he's headed there on behalf of the clinton foundation, which has been working to provide medical supplies and solar energy. nbc news correspondent tammy leitner who has spent a lot of

time there over the last two months is back in puerto rico where she spoke to the mayor today. you got a status report, what did she tell you? >> caller: i did, stephanie. but first, the san juan mayor has been extremely vocal and very hands-on. i have seen her go door-to-door wading through chest-high water rescuing people herself. so this really shows that if anybody knows what is going on on this island, it's her. and two months after the hurricane, she is saying, the island is not where it should be. it is not even close. let's go ahead and listen to what else she had to say. >> 70% of the puerto rican population has water. we have to make sure that it's drinkable water, not everyone has drinkable water but they have water. we have two total blackouts. and people have to understand, all of the generation happens on the southern part of the island. and it's spread throughout. so when they say generation of

power, it doesn't mean that it's the distribution of power. still hospitals are unstable because of the power situation. fema has started to roll back. they have already told us that they are beginning to roll back on the food and the water that they provide. when you have no drinkable water everywhere, when you don't have electricity everywhere, there's no stabilization. you know, this is the 21st century. no one should not have water, food, energy. i don't want a puerto rico where people depend on the government for food and water. i want a sustainable economy where people have living wages. >> reporter: and it's not a sustainable economy right now. we are seeing a mass exodus from puerto rico. people are leaving here in droves heading for florida, for

texas, for new york. so stephanie, that's a major problem. nobody is staying. >> i want the bring my panel in on this. rick tyler, bill cohen, the president has given himself and his administration high marks for their response to puerto rico. is that a bad move on the president's part? you have people coming in droves to places like florida, texas, new york. there is a massive march in d.c. over the weekend. >> i feel like the next tweet will be, well, we shouldn't have done anything with puerto rico because they are not sufficiently grateful. look, there's a lot of things going on here. one, this was a huge hurricane that devastated the entire island and power grid. we established that. >> the second one, the week before, that hit the virgin islands. >> but the government, this is -- the government, fema, the average payout of superstorm sandy was $8,000. in katrina it was $7,000. and all that is designed for is food and water and living

expenses while you figure out how to rebuild your home. there's not a government agency that rebuilds homes. there are coordination, and it is difficult with the island. because in texas, you had all the resources that can drive there, right? and in puerto rico, you have to -- it is difficult. so i think the president's communication on this has been terrible. i mean, he needs to communicate all the progress every day. and then he should be reporting out progress every single day. because what it looks like is the government is backing out when the island is still devastated. >> it's easy to say the federal government is failing puerto rico, but it is a complicated situation. we know that the governor of puerto rico wants something like $94 billion. but $94 billion isn't confirmed that it will solve anything there. the puerto rican government has failed puerto rico. prep, the head of prepa, appointed by the governor of puerto rico, signed off on the white fish contract.

there's malpractice all over the place here. >> and has been fired. >> correct. >> so they have $72 billion of debt they basically can't repay. it is an incredibly complicated situation. prepa had outdated electrical generational facilities. this is an opportunity to upgrade that substantially. solar power, other forms of energy creation. but look, unfortunately, it sometimes comes down to picture opportunities and president trump, the president of the united states, throwing paper towels into a crowd of people, what is it, a week after -- >> the people of puerto rico don't care whether or not he's throwing paper towels, they just want clean water. >> of course. and for him to throw the paper towels is the most embarrassing thing. and we'll remember that for a very long time. that's right up there with heck of a job brownie. >> i'm going to disagree with bill cohen. i don't think it matters if he's throwing paper towels but it matters if people get their medication, it matters if the schools in puerto rico open back up. tammy, rick, bill, thank you all

very much. i love talking to these guys. and in just over a month, lighting up for fun becomes legal in california. but does legalizing the green, we're talking weed, make the black market go away? jacob soberoff went to find out. do what i did. ask your doctor about humira. it's proven to help relieve pain and protect joints from further irreversible damage in many adults. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira has been clinically studied for over 20 years. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b,

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welcome back. i'm stephanie ruhle in for hallie jackson. we are going to get into the weeds about weed. specifically, black market marijuana.

when the sale of recreational pot becomes legal in california in january, the state will become, by far, the largest legal marijuana economy in the nation. it doesn't mean all marijuana there will be for legal purposes. we got a firsthand look at the efforts to nip the pot black market in the bud. >> reporter: in the foothills of the sierra, a narcotics task force is preparing for a raid. they're not going after heroin, cocaine or meth. they're looking for p ining for. how many of these are protected? >> a portion of them. always worried about getting ripped off by people looking to steal their crop. we've had a lot of shootings in this county. >> reporter: in january, california will become home to the nation's largest legal pot industry, but the state's black market weed will still be a far bigger business. what are they looking for inside the shed? >> just clearing it for

personnel. make sure there's no dangerous people in there. nobody harmed. >> reporter: check this out. this is a trip wire connected to beer bottles. if somebody comes into the grow and doesn't see this thing, whoever is out here is going to know about it. looks like they got most of it before you got here, but this is the last plant left? >> just about. the helicopter flew yesterday. they probably made a priority to get it out of here. >> reporter: it is estimated california produces eight times more pot than is consumed here. most is trafficked across america. today, could be up to 80% of the black market weed consumed in the u.s. these are some big ones in here. see a bunch up there. a second grow site, we found absolutely massive illegal plants. so what do you think, this is probably eight feet tall, right? >> about that. >> reporter: full irrigation system in here. >> you have standard drip line that you'll see in people's landscape, in their backyard. looks like this is their camp area, which is where they're

living. you can see they've got their clothing hanging on clotheslines. you can see the loofah, the scrubber. >> they literally left their shower gear here. >> probably took off in a hurry. >> when they heard the chopper yesterday? >> or heard us come in today. >> reporter: air rifles meant to protect their crops from hungry deer and rodents. the sheriff's department sthink this grow is a larger enterprise. >> they're not growing for themselves. >> reporter: or even with a medical card. >> no. this is typical of organized crime. >> reporter: they're losing a lot of money today. >> they are. somebody is not going to be happy about this. we probably get six pounds easy off that one. >> reporter: six pounds off the one tree? >> i'd guess. >> reporter: what happens to the weed now that it is chopped down? >> we have to get it out of here. wrap it up, pile by pile, and manually drag it out. >> reporter: 50 or 60 pounds of

weed on your back. they have a lot more to pick up still. if you were a betting man, would you bet that this weed stays in california? >> i would bet against that. they can make more money with it in other parts of the united states than they can in california. >> i'm joined by usa today reporter trevor hughes who has been covering pot legalization efforts around the country. trevor, you've reported on the marijuana black market as well as a legalization. talk about the enormous challenge in cracking down. i mean, this is a profitable industry. >> it's a hugely profitable industry. the thing you have to bear in mind is a pound of marijuana in california might sell for $2,000. in new york city, might sell for $6,000. totally illegal. if you're willing to take the risk of shipping the pot across the country, you could make a ton of money. in one of these plants, can be worth thousands and thousands of dollars. there is a profit motive for people to avoid paying taxes.

they're basically modern day moon shiners. >> as more states loosen marijuana restrictions, isn't it going to wipe out the black market? you won't need it. >> that is certainly the argument. you look at that with alcohol. i mean, we talk about moon shining but, frankly, it doesn't seem like it is that big of an industry in this country anymore. as the legal marketplace expands, it scheeems like the bk market is being reduced. again, you have huge population centers like new york. if new york stays illegal, there's going to be the huge profit motive, once again, to keep not having to pay the taxes on the pot in california. some of these taxes, we're talking like, you know, 20%, 30%, 40%, talk of 50% taxes on marijuana once the consumer paid for it. it is a huge cut the growers no longer get. >> how about a little economic history in the world of weed. california is expecting a big economic benefit from the sale of recreational marijuana. you live in colorado where

marijuana was legalized a few years ago. has the state reaped the benefits? a few years ago, we thought it'd be this huge win. >> well, you know, this is the thing you have to remember, is that any tax dollar that comes from marijuana is a new tax dollar we wouldn't have gotten. so colorado has collected hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes over the last few years. that money is flowing into communities. it is helping build schools and make improvements in our communities. but a lot of it is also being sent to drug treatment and programs that help people stop using drugs. so it's not a cash cow in the way a lot of legislators may have thought it was going to be, but there is new money that is coming in. every time someone in colorado buys pot and pays taxes, that goes to the government. >> green money in more ways than one. trevor, thanks so much for joining me this morning. we'll be right back. you're watching msnbc.

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morning, everyone. welcome to the third hour of the stephanie ruhle marathon on msnbc. i'm ali velshi. >> i'm stephanie ruhle. monday, november 20th. let's get started. >> i was the 14-year-old child trying to play in an adult's world. he was 32 years old. >> this morning, roy moore senate candidacy is deeply dividing alabama. >> mitch mcconnell and the establishment are in cahoots with the democrats to stop this campaign. >> three of