The trump family. In particular, hes going after donald trump jr. Hard, calling out that june 2016 meeting with the russian lawyer at trump tower. Thats also where Paul Manafort, who was the campaign chair, and Jared Kushner, they also attended. That meeting did happen about two months before steve bannon joined the campaign, as chief executive. And bannon now talking in this book, this soontobe released book, fire and fury. Hes saying this, theyre going to crack down jr. Like an egg on national tv. So, thats from bannon. But, of course, don jr. Has previously said that he took the meeting as someone new to politics. He said, as a businessman, you take every meeting that presents itself. He also says he views it as getting opposition research. But bannon, as you saw in that quote, hitting back hard on that defense. And bannon, in addition, also going after Jared Kushner, of course, a top adviser, soninlaw to the president. In some of the excerpts released, he said that in the end, he believes the investigation will come down to money laundering. And then, also saying this. He said, it goes through Deutsche Bank and all the kushner expletive. The kushner expletive is greasy. Theyre going to go right through that. Theyre going to roll those two guys up and say, play me or trade me. Now, of course, it was reported last month that federal prosecutors subpoenaed records from Deutsche Bank. Thats the german bank that has lent hundreds of millions of dollars to Jared Kushners property empire. So, really, ana, bannon suggesting there that mueller will, in fact, cross that red line that the president warned him against months ago wile talking to the new york times. Bannon saying that mueller is bound to dig into or probably is digging into the family and business finances. And really strong and damaging words about trumps inner circle from the man who really helped you shall donald trump to the presidency. And is said to still be his supporter. Jessica schneider, thank you for that report. There are a total of four russia investigations. Theres the special counsel probe, as well as two in the senate and one in the house. And today marks a deadline in the House Intelligence Committee. Committee chairman, republican devin nunes, has given the Justice Department until today to turn over documents related the to that infamous dossier linki ining President Trump to russia. Cnn crime and justice reporter Shimon Prokupecz is joining us with details on this. Shi shimon, what exactly is devin nunes after and will he get it . Reporter so it appears that nunes, controversial a little bit, conducting in some ways his own investigation, and hes specifically been harping on, trying to get information from the department of justice and the fbi on some of the information that they have related to the steele sdossier. He wants, according to some people ive talked to, he wants information on some of the witnesses, some of the information that was used to compile the dossier. But a person i spoke to says they believe that theyve given nunes everything they have, everything that is related to his request that they, at least have, that they can provide him. Thats the department of justice. So theyre not even sure exactly what more he wants, and whether it even exists, so this is in some ways, while these requests are coming often from nunes, theyre making a lot of noise. It doesnt appear that there is anything else that they need to give him right now. All right. Shimon prokupecz in washington, thank you. Joining us now is cnn chief legal analyst, jeffrey toobin. So first these comments from bannon. Well get to the fusion gps and the dossier in just a moment. But he says that this meeting at trump tower was treasonous. Of course, he is not a lawyer, you are. Any what would make that treasonous . Is there anything there . This is so rich, because steve bannon, of course, is very Much Associated with breitbart and the conservative, you know, media movement. He sounds today like hes from msnbc, you know, hes now sort of taking the other side. The backdrop to this is that while they were all in the white house, bannon hated the trump relatives. He hated kushner, he hated trump junior get him out. Get him out. So, you know, there is a real axe to grind here. But look, the idea that it was inappropriate, if not treasonous, to meet with, you know, russian government officials, who explicitly were trying to interfere in the election, thats a lot of people find that bad. And whats only surprising here is that a trump loyalist has said it. But a lot of people have said it was completely inappropriate for kushner and trump jr. To meet with these russian lawyers. But, it certainly is interesting that bannon is saying it, as well. Treason has a very specific legal definition, and i dont think there is any hes pointing to a crime. Right. I dont think if there was any crime, i dont think it was treason, which has a sort of military component. But it certainly, i think, clearly was inappropriate. And whether it was part of a conspiracy to violate Campaign Finance laws or aiding and abedding hacking, these are the legal crimes that i think mueller will be examining. And, clearly, bannon thinks there is, perhaps, financial crimes, to investigators, as well. And before we go there, i want to bring in David Chalian to the conversation on just the face of it. The fact that bannon was part of the administration. Now that he is out, he has said he wants to help the president from outside the white house. Why would he throw the president s own family under the bus like this . As jeffrey was suggesting, there was clearly some score settling happening in this book. There is no doubt about that. There is no love lost, we know, between steve bannon and jared and ivanka. That is a sturdy relationship over the course of bannons time in the trump universe. But, it doesnt negate the importance and the weight that these words have from somebody who was inside. I mean, there are a few people who had as close of an inside view to trump world from immediately after the convention in 2016, through the first summer of the president in office, when this entire russia story was developing in the investigation, coming into full view of the american public, to have him put his characterization of what he saw in that meeting on there, clearly has some impact and weight in a way that somebody from the outside, those words would not have. And ana, the other thing i do want to point out, when bannon says, here, i think its so interesting here at the end of the quote that he gave to Michael Wolfe here that somebody should have told the fbi. I do think that is a question that continues to hang over what Paul Manafort and donald trump jr. And Jared Kushner were thinking. We just learned that the australians, when they learned of some information, picked up the phone and made a call to american authorities about it. So, the question is continuing to be begged, i think, as to why didnt they . And if i can just raise one more thing about bannons comme comments. The reference to Deutsche Bank is very significant. Because its not just Jared Kushner who had hundreds of millions of dollars of dealings with Deutsche Bank. It was donald trump, as well. A lot of the bigger banks, the citi banks, the chase banks, by this decade, wanted nothing more to do with donald trump. So it was Deutsche Bank that donald trump dealt with a lot. And if the mueller prosecutors are looking at Deutsche Bank, boy, that is a big, big subject. I certainly dont know if theres any criminal activity to be disclosed there, but that is sympathetic that will certainly give the trump people a lot of pau pause. And we have fusion gps, which is the firm that commissioned this dossier and was working with Christopher Steele and just penned this oped in the new york times, theyre angry because congress hasnt revealed, wouldnt put out the transcript of what they testified before congress, so theyve decided to do it in this oped. And devin nunes is clearly more interested in investigating fusion gps than he is in investigating which is interesting. And i want to read a quote. They wrote, we told congress from manhattan to sunny beach, florida, we found widespread evidence that mr. Trump and ihi organization had worked with a wide array of dubious russians in operations that often raised questions about money laundering. Likewise, those deals dont seem to interest congress. One of the most damning factfact s in the oped piece is that the only bank records that have been suspected by the House Intelligence Committee are fusion gps bank records, not any of those related to the actual thing theyre supposedly investigating. Which tells you that the House Republicans are clearly more interested in protecting the president than investigating him. And bannon also insists he knows no russians. He will not a witness, will not hire a lawyer, will not appear on National Television answering questions, at least thats what he tells Michael Wolfe. Since hes already just laid auto of this out, do you think this changes it . Will mueller call him in . I dont see why he shouldnt call him in. He was intimately involved in the campaign and if he has nothing to hide, he should go talk to him. David, i want to ask you also about the fact that bannon takes issue with the wlohite house response to the russia probe. He tells Michael Wolfe, they are sitting on a beach trying to stop a category 5. Those are strong words . Yeah. And in bannons view, itses a catego category 5 that they created. Bannon when he left the white house sat down and did an interview with charlie rose and called the firing of james comey the greatest and ig bebiggest me that the president has made as president , because it launched this entire investigation. He has opinion on the record for quite some time about how poorly he thinks the white house has handled the response to these yi inquiries. So as nunes and other republicans point to this dossier as a smoking gun that everyones out to get trump, fusion gps provides more details about the dossier, yes, we hired mr. Steele, but did so without giving him any specific marching orders beyond this basic question. Why did mr. Trump repeatedly seek to do deals in a seriously corrupt police state that most Business Leaders shun. What came back shocked us. Mr. Steele saw this as a crime in progress and decided he needed to report it to the fbi. Jeffrey, can republicans now credibly continue this argument that the dossier is bogus and that this whole investigation is a witch hunt . Sure, because they have a whole network that does nothing but say this all day long. Fox news is going to continue to say it and theyre not going to get into these facts. One of the big differences between this media moment and earlier scandals is that there is an entire television devoted to defending the administration. So none of this stuff is going to make any difference to them. But, remember, the president s support is only, you know, 35 or so. And fox news, while certainly significant, is doesnt reach most americans. You know, but can people say that this is still a witch hunt . Of course they can still say it. Its not true, but theyll say. David, will they change course . Well, i certainly agree that most diehard fans of President Trump arent going to change course in their feelings about him. And jeffreys right. Fox news, breitbart, the whole sort of rightwing echo change is what is putting this floor of support at about 35, 38 beneath President Trump, whereas, perhaps, in a previous era, some of these headlines would really have more weight and drive those Approval Ratings down even further. So it does give him a floor of support. But theres nothing theres no evidence i have, ana, that the president is interested in taking a different approach or changing his ways. You know, weve talked about a trump pivot for the better part of 2 1 2 years now. I think we can pretty much assume any day now, david its any day now well, you never know. You never know with this president. He may just surprise us. Jeffrey toobin and David Chalian, thank you both. So as this russia probe continues to cast a shadow in washington this morning, so does the threat of a Government Shutdown ahead of a huge meeting on capitol hill today. Soon, white house officials will meet with top lawmakers from both parties on how to keep the government running while the battle over immigration is heating up. Details ahead. Plus, my Nuclear Button is bigger than yours. The president taunting north korea with the size and the power of Americas Nuclear arsenal, just as north and south korea make a rare move to deescalate tensions. Thats next. Here. My secret visitors. Hallucinations and delusions. The unknown parts of living with parkinsons. What plots they unfold, but only in my mind. Over 50 of people with parkinsons will experience hallucinations or delusions during the course of their disease. If your loved one is experiencing these symptoms, talk to your parkinsons specialist. There are Treatment Options that can help. 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Those whove had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. With less pain, i can do more with my family. Talk to your doctor today. See if lyrica can help. Even for a president who revels in the shock and thunder of outrageous tweets, donald trump is delivering a new jolt to the escalating Nuclear Tensions with north korea. This tweet last night shocking both enemies and allies by using schoolyardlike taunts to bat away the nuclear saberrattling of north koreas volatile leader, kim jongun. President trump saying that he too has, quote, a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger and more powerful one than his and my button works. This tweet raising eyebrows and concerns. Cnns Kaitlan Collins is at the white house. Kaitlan, whats the white house saying about this latest broadside from the president . Well, theyre maintaining that theyre taking the same approach to north korea, but out of the 16 tweets that the president sent yesterday, this one was certainly the most striking, because he was essentially taunting kim jongun by questioning the strength of his Nuclear Arsenal and making quite a jab at him, as he did so. And that tweet came after kim jongun gave a speech on new years day, saying that the, quote, Nuclear Button is always on his desk and the president tweeting that, and its almost impossible to see, ana, how that tweet does not come up during the president s lunch today with Vice President mike pence, secretary of state rex tillerson, and defense secretary, james mattis. Now, to put that lunch in context for you, its the only thing on the president s public schedule today. And weve seen the president and tillerson often differ on their approach to north korea, because as youll recall, just a few months ago, after tillerson hinted at a potential line of communication with north korea, the president got on twitter and told him to stop wasting his time by doing so. But all of that comes as north korea and south korea have reestablished this hot line that has been dormant between the two of them for almost two years, since february 2016 and speaking for about 20 minutes yesterday. And ana, that could signal that they are paving the way for formal talks here. All right, Kaitlan Collins at the white house, keep us posted. Lets bring in Cnn National Security analyst, samantha vinograd, along with susan glasser, the chief International Affairs columnist for politico. She is also the author of the new column Donald Trumps year of living dangerously. Samantha, ill start with you about Donald Trumps tweets and its impact. This one on north korea. I want you to take a listen to richard haas, who we know served in both the bush administrations. So these words dont just have a domestic audience. These words have an international audience. Does this make north korea more or less likely to do what we want to do and to maybe agree to some restraint . Does it make south korea more or less comfortable with the fact that they are dependent on us as an ally . Does it make other countries more or less likely to work with us to trust in the judgment of the president of the United States . Thats the criteria. Im all in favor of potentially tough language, if i think its going to advance us. So, samantha, how do you read the president s my button is bigger and more powerful than yours tweet . Well, the tweets are obviously ridiculous. But theyre also really dangerous, when you stop to think about the fact that there are millions of lives at risk on both sides in this conflict. And we have to take a step back and try to think about, whats the end game here . Our end game should be, aside from these tweets, trying to prevent a scenario whereby either side, whether it be the north koreans or the United States try to prove that their Nuclear Button is bigger. We want to avoid nuclear war, not encourage it. So you see the president s tweet goading the north koreans . I think that the president s tweets are definitely goading kim jongun into another test. When you look back over the last year, weve seen an escalating cycle of tweets and tests. We have inflammatory rhetoric by the president , including insults over twitter. And we have kim jongun launching more missile and nuclear tests. Its an escalating cycle. And the fact is, as richard points out, we havent seen tough language defor kim jongun from his behavior, or change course and abandon his nuclear program. Instead, the evidence shows that this kind of language just gins kim jongun up. And i think its going to lead him to try to prove that hes being honest about his nuclear capability. Susan, one thing richard pointed out, too, there was the fact this this impacts the rest of the world. These tweets arent just for the american audience. Theyre for World Leaders to look at and to interpret. Are other foreign powers paying attention . I know youve been speaking with a lot of people, we do have some reaction that we saw from a russian lawmaker saying, quote, it is not worth the u. S. As a great country to compete with the dprk in sizes of Nuclear Buttons. In the people youve been talking to, your reporting on the way the world views how President Trump is handling Foreign Policy, how does this tweet fit in . Well, i have to say, its yet another example of what i would call the shocking, but not at all surprising Foreign Policy stylings of donald trump, right . At this point, were a year in. Fair notice that this is how he uses his twitter feed. And yet, i think it is important to retain a little bit of that sense of shock. And as i debriefed, you know, senior diplomat, other World Leaders who have met with President Trump, who have interacted closely with him and his National Security team over the last year, thats one big, important takeaway. As stunning as some of his public tweets are, the private interactions have been equally jarring and unsettling to many of our closest friends and allies. South korea being a great example, of course. This is not only a close ally, but who is being potentially put at risk by Donald Trumps rhetoric. And i think that partially explains this little eruption were seeing over the last two days. South korea gets the message pretty clearly that donald trump is not exactly committed to anything other than america first. Hes not a big believer in alliances and partnerships. North korea, perhaps correctly, sees an opening to possibly cut the u. S. Out of negotiations to separate the United States and south korea. And i think thats a little bit of whats going on. Obviously, a petulant donald trump doesnt like that notion very much. And once again, here we are talking about his tweets. Let me push back on this notion, though, that this doesnt work. That this approach doesnt work. Because here we see north korea and south korea suddenly with this open door of communication. Where south korea had said that they had been trying to talk with north korea every day for the past two years. Sometimes trying to call them twice a day. Is this progress . I think it was a shrewd move by kim jongun. And to susans point, i think kim jongun saw a window of opportunity to peel south korea away from the United States and took it. President moon of south korea has been pretty open about the fact that he prefers a diplomatic outcome, which makes sense when you think about the fact that there are so many south korean lives at stake, if there is a military strike. So we know president moon has preferred a diplomatic outcome. We also know that president moon is deeply focused on a successful and secure olympics in a few weeks. And i think kim jongun saw this window of opportunity to say to south korea, lets talk. Lets have a crossborder communication. And lets talk without the United States in the room. I think that this is bad news for the u. S. Policy on north korea. The south accepted discussions with north korea, with no preconditions. And without having the United States in the room. So, we dont really know whats going on. And we also know that the north koreans have a history of abusing negotiations. And using them to buy time to continue bad behavior without giving anything up. So net net, i think that this is a loss for the United States. Okay. In the meantime, the president also shaking up other parts of the world, threatening to withhold money from the palestinians. This after the palestinians made comments that they wont accept the u. S. As brokers of a middle east peace deal. Susan, you have reported on this disconnect between trump and his own Foreign Policy and National Security advisers. Is this an issue where theyre on the same page . Well, look, i think its a great example of the trump effect in action, which is to say his tweets, his, at times, even arbitrary policy decisions overruling members of his own team, have actual realworld consequences. On the jerusalem decision, i was told by someone who smopoke wit both secretary mattis and secretary tillerson they literally begged President Trump not to make the decision to recognize unilaterally jerusalem as israels capital. For years, american officials in both parties, i should point out, have believed that jerusalem was an important component of a bigger, more sweeping peace deal. Now, effectively, as trump acknowledged in his tweet yesterday, weve taken jerusalem off the table. Without getting any concessions in return. Now, he seems to be realizing that and furious with the palestinians, that he didnt extract something more. Hes now demanding in a public tweet no less, to withhold the millions of dollars in aid that we annually provide to the palestinian authority. And i just think 2018 is going to be the year when some of Donald Trumps rhetoric, some of his promises or insistences about Foreign Policy come home to roost for him. Hes either got to decide to follow through on some of these threats, on some of the bluster, or other World Leaders are going to take matters into their own hands. Susan glasser and samantha vinograd, i thank you both for being here. Thank you. Coming up, the race to avoid that Government Shutdown. Soon, Top White House officials will meet with a Bipartisan Group of leading lawmakers on capitol hill, as we approach this crucial deadline to come up with a budget. But will a battle over immigration put a big wrench in their talks . Well discuss, next. You do all this research on a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. Your Insurance Company raises your rates. Maybe you shouldve done more research on them. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. So we sent that sample i doff to ancestry. I was from ethnically. My ancestry dna results are that i am 26 nigerian. I am just trying to learn as much as i can about my culture. I put the gele on my head and i looked into the mirror and i was trying not to cry. Because its a hat, but its like the most important hat ive ever owned. Discover the story only your dna can tell. Order your kit now at ancestrydna. Com. Trying to avert a Government Shutdown. That is the pressing issue to topping issue today when white house officials head to capitol hill. President trumps budget director Mick Mulvaney and mark short will be meeting with House Speaker paul ryan, Senate Majority leader, mitch mcconnell, and Democratic Leaders nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. Cnn congressional correspondent, Sunlen Serfaty, is joining us from capitol hill. Sunlen, what do we expect . Reporter ana, this is certainly a big meeting today to discuss the budget bill and ending deadline which looms large, set for january 19th. The leaders will sit down at 3 00 p. M. Today in speaker of the house paul ryans office and top of the agenda list is setting the domestic and defense spending levels. Ahead of this meeting, going into this meeting, democrats really trying to draw a line in the sand here, saying they will continue to insist on parody here. Meaning that they want equal spending for defense and domestic programs in the spending bill. Also, you have in this mix, these issues of daca, funding for c. H. I. P. , the disaster aide bill that democrats will continue to insist potentially be included in this spending bill, and keep in mind here, they do democrats do have some leverage. The fact that they that republicans cannot pass this through without democrat support. So that adding into the starting point today of negotiations. Ana . All right, Sunlen Serfaty on capitol hill, thank you. Lets bring in our panel, laura lopez, a congressional reporter for the washington examiner. Jake maccabee, a democratic strategist, and doug heye. So laura, a spending bill and this legislation to protect dreamers seems to be the big linchpin here. What are the chances o s of a shutdown . Well, i think that right now democrats are seeing this as the most leverage that they are going to have and so because their votes are needed to pass this spending bill. So there is some talk that they may need to pass another shortterm cr in order to reach a deal, because there isnt much time between now and january 19th. So, especially if democrats stay stand hard on this, you know, what they want, which is daca, a daca fix, they want the chip money. And so in order to get that, they cant really be they have to take a firm stand. They cant really be saying, okay, lets kick the can down the road again, especially since Daca Recipients dont have time for that. So, jake, the president says, no daca deal without the wall. Democrats are saying, no way to the wall. Are democrats really willing to shut down the government over this . Well, i think democrats want donald trump and the republicans to honor their commitments on this. You have 800,000 people who are americans in all but name, who were brought here when they were children, who were covered by daca. Theyre members of our communities, theyre members of our families. They are members of our businesses. And theyre a big part of america. And theyre looking at a whole lot of uncertainty, which is why democrats made a deal back in september with President Trump that would have insured the safety of Daca Recipients. And then donald trump walked away. Now republicans are saying, well, well give you daca, but we want something in return. And frankly, the American People shouldnt have to bribe republicans in order to do the right thing here. One things for sure, no deal is a deal until its a done deal. And doug, another deal thats been made recently with mitch mcconnell, telling senator jeff flake that he would bring a vote on daca legislation to the floor in january if a deal was reached. How do you see this playing out . I can tell you from my experience on capitol hill, there is no more divisive issue within the Republican House and Senate Conferences than immigration as a whole. Whether youre talking daca or other issues around immigration. The one thing members of congress and senators know is that there is no daylight between donald trump and where he is on immigration and where trump voters are on immigration. They are in lockstep together. I think that actually gives donald trump an opportunity here, especially maybe paradoxically, given his past rhetoric about the wall, given his past rhetoric against immigrants, to actually be in a nixon and china moment and cut the deal. And well find out. This is the preposturing that we get before these kinds of meetings and potential shutdowns and so forth. Well find out if this is posturing from donald trump or if hes the great negotiator hes promised to be. If theres a Government Shutdown, its going to end up on republicans doors. Now, of course, republicans have less of a majority in the senate on the heels of doug jones, of course, about to be sworn in. Senator orrin hatch is retiring. Weve learned mitt romney is expected to run. He changed his twitter location yesterday to utah. How soon will he make an announcement . Any chance he doesnt run . I think he wants to give hatch some time. The announcement of his retirement just came out yesterday. So were seeing romney wanting to be respectful of that. At the same time, i think were going to see pretty soon him making an announcement. All signs are pointing towards him making a run for it. Doug, mitt romney runs, lets say. His chances are extremely high that hell win. I mean, he beat president obama in utah by about 50 points in 2012. So, if hes in the senate and trump is in the white house, im wondering which mitt romney shows up. The romney who interviewed for secretary of state or if romney who said President Trump is unfit for office . I think well see the mitt romney that is the statesman in the mold of orrin hatch. And this is where, if youve worked in politics for a long time, you get a little sentimental about these things. I met orrin hatch in 1990 at the First Political event that i ever attended in my political career in charlotte, north carolina. Hes been a statesman, somebody whos been willing to work across party lines, but always kept true to his conservative values. Hes not been someone whos fallen into extremist rhetoric or anything like that, even as hes worked pretty closely with the Trump Administration. I would expect mitt romney to play similarly in that role. Certainly, hes been critical of donald trump in the past, in the nottoodistant past. But if hes representing the people of utah and if he runs, he most likely will win. I think its almost a me metaphysical certitude he would win. I think you would see mitt romney stand up and be the statesman, but also standing up for the people of utah. Senator al franken, hes out now. Tina smith who was appointed by the governor to temporarily fill his seat is going to run for that seat permanently and now looks like Michele Bachmann height throw her hat in the ring. She said in an interview yet, the Democratic Party even admit they threw al franken turnt bus because they wanted to look pure. Jake, could this roundabout defense of franken encourage voters who may lean democratic to really seriously consider Michele Bachmann . Michele bachmann comes from a wing of the Republican Party that was on the fringes not too long ago until donald trump brought them into the mainstream. I would be extremely surprised if any democrats considered voting for Michele Bachmann. Hes a person whos said she wanted to end Social Security and medicaid. Shes a person who has called homosexuality a sexual dysfunction. She is not a person who democrats are likely to get behind. And frankly, shes not a person who minnesota is likely to get behind. But were in sort of a brave new world of republican candidates, as you saw in alabama. So well see how it plays out. But her remark there about throwing al franken under the bus to look pure, is there some truth to that . I think this has been a pretty cynical way to look at what happened recently. But i think i think what we really need to be focused on is making sure that we have a positive environment in the senate, in government in general and in business around the country, where women can be respected, where women can work alongside men without constant without harassment from any quarter. And so, i think thats what democrats have been focused on. And i think to look at it otherwise is pretty cynical. All right. Jake, doug, and laura, i know, jake, doug, you might have one last word. Go ahead. I was going to say, just operationally on the campaign side, Michele Bachmann still has more than 1 million in her campaign accounts. If she decides to run, that gives her a big head start in a primary that could move her forward to being the nominee. Whether or not she wins in the end, you know, obviously remains to be seen. Its going to be so interesting to see how all of these races play out. Thank you so much, doug heye, jake maccabee, and laura lopez, i appreciate it. You could soon be seeing a change in your paycheck with the new tax law in effect. But lawmakers in some of the highly taxed states are planning to rebut the tax law with their own tax laws. Uhl talk one of those lawmakers, next. Its no secret that hightax states are not happy with President Trumps new tax law. And democratic lawmakers in states like new york, new jersey, connecticut, and california are calling this a deliberate attempt to target blue states. Theyre planning to fight back to ensure they dont lose out on state revenue and so that residents in those states dont lose out on a popular Tax Deduction that just got drastically cut. Take a listen to new york governor andrew cuomo. This tax provision hits the blue states by eliminating the state and local tax deductibility. And uses that money to finance the tax cut in the red states. This is the most partisan, divisive legislation weve seen. Look, theres always politics in crafting of legislation. But this was an egregious, obnoxious. California is another state that could take a hit with this reduction of state and local taxes and their deductions. Democratic state senator, kevin deleone is working to get a plan to get around this new tax law. Hes also announced a primary challenge to u. S. Senator Dianne Feinste feinstein. State senator de leon, thank you so much. You concede to thethe new york time times, with this idea, youre trying to game the season with the salt tax. What are you proposing . Good morning. Let me say, that wasnt my word, gaming the system. I think we were gamed in california by donald trump and the republicans, as well as new york and new jersey and connecticut and other blue states throughout the country. The reality is this. With this massive tax cut for corporations and Hedge Fund Managers and for the wealthy of america, the expectation is that california taxpayers are going to bail out this massive tax cut for the wealthy. So what im attempting to do is move forward, some creative, innovative legislation that perhaps other states in the country can utilize as well, too. So for california taxpayers whose salt, the state and local Tax Deduction that will be lowered to 10,000. In california, the average is 22,000 deduction, were going to do a charitable contribution. For every dollar that california sends as a charitable contribution to california, you can write that off. With a 100 tax credit by the federal government. Its legal, its legitimate, and we believe it is an opportunity for us to recoup the dollars that belong to the people of california. Why not take a hard look at just lowering state taxes . Let me say this, ana, because it doesnt make a difference if youre a republican or if youre a democrat. You have the responsibility to governor. So when you have a massive tax cut, just the one that just occurred in washington, you have to still pay the bills. You have to pay the bills for our public schools, our universities, our community colleges, health care for the elderly. Young children who have early signs, i should say, of or who on the spectrum of alzheimers or autism. You still have to pay the bills. By lowering the Tax Deduction and by cutting taxes even more so, you will drive states into budget deficits. You still have to pay the bills when they come full, you know, come every month. Okay. So thats not a reality. So are you concerned, then, about a Court Challenge from the Trump Administration on this . Because that is likely, should you go down the path youre seeking . Ill say, ana, if the Trump Administration does litigate and sue us and try to revoke our authority as a state, were prepared to move forward in a court of law. He will actually hurt other red states such as arizona, such as florida. Two crucial states, i believe, in the next president ial election. These are two red states who also use conceptually, the type of charitable contribution, Tax Deduction, that weve been using in california. So, actually, it will put him in a conundrum. But we are prepared to litigate, if need be. Youre challenging democratic senator diane finestein. Youve been particularly critical of her on daca. Youve called for her and Senate Democrats to shut down the government, to get protections for d. R. E. A. M. Ers. I want to read to you the Sacramento Bee editorial board. Using blackmail to force legislators to act isnt wise and wont work. Besides, theres time to do things the right way. Daca doesnt expire until march. Theres the human toll, particularly in government towns such as sacramento. Federal employees there are about 250,000 in california would get furloughed, as they did during the shutdown of 2013. Why are you comfortable with this risk . Let me be very clear. This is about a valuesbased judgment. We have hundreds of thousands of young men and women who have contributed greatly to our economy, who are young americans. To date, have not been able to receive any type of temporary reprieve because we have folks in washington, d. C. , both democrats as well as republicans, who have refused to deal with the issue of d. R. E. A. M. Ers. I do believe strongly, its time that we all stand up. Both republicans and democrats. Voters across the country, overwhelming support, the d. R. E. A. M. Ers. So its about time that washington, d. C. Get off their duff and actually work towards a compromise when it comes to the d. R. E. A. M. Ers. To date, we havent seen one. And were looking for democrats to have a real spine in washington, d. C. To have their voices heard, and make sure that the user leverage that they have in d. C. Currently, before it slips through their fingers, and make sure that they protect the d. R. E. A. M. Ers. But if a shutdown happens, republicans and the president are well, listen, again, let me go back. This is a values based judgment. I believe strongly both democrats and Republican Voters specifically, not the politicians, overwhelmingly support dreamers. Theyve got to the use their political leverage to cut a deal to protect these young men and women and their parents, as well, too. I havent seen in washington, d. C. Right now any Strong Political leveraging on the part of the democrats to force a deal with the Trump Administration. What would do you. And with Republican Leaders . What i would do is clearly use the threat of shutting down the government. The republicans will never hesitate for a second to move forward what they believe in by threatening to shut the government down or not threatening to shut the government down. Kevin day leon, thank you for sharing with us. The death toll is rising as punishing cold weather copies to hit a massive stretch of the United States. More than 100 million americans are now under windchill warnings and advisories. Details ahead. Its cold and its about to get a whole lot colder. Freezing rain, sleet and snow are expected in the southeast. And a brutal winter storm is heading toward the northeast. Cnn meteorologist Jennifer Grey is live in the cnn weather center. 12 people have already died. A lot of people are dealing with frozen pipes. How much colder is it expected to get . Its going to get colder by the weekend. But right now, if you think about it, were seeing some of the warmest temperatures weve seen all week. It is cold enough to snow across north florida this morning with temperatures around 37 degrees in jacksonville and temperatures are going to get even colder as we go forward in the next few days. So most of the snow and the ice is pushing out of florida now. This is the storm system thats going to move up the coast over ot next 24 to 36 hours. Its going to rapidly intensify as it does so and going to bring possible blizzardlike conditions across portions of virginia. Norfolk, Virginia Beach under blizzard warnings now. Snow 5 to 8 inches goes into effect tonight through thursday. 50mileperhour gusts possible. As we move up the coast, by the time we get into thursday, friday, thats when were going to have the blizzard conditions for northern portions of maine, eastern mass and so we could see possible Hurricane Force wind gusts. Were going to see a lot of snow and a lot of wind. Here are your snowfall totals expected over the next couple days. Philadelphia an inch or two. New york city 3 to 6. Boston could see 9 to 12 inches of snowfall. When you talk about adding very cold temperatures to that, temperatures will be in the single digits. Friday boston 13. Saturday 5 degrees your high temperature. Ana, with these systems a lot of times you get power outages. People are going to have to find a way to keep warm if their power goes out and temperatures are in the single digits. A serious situation, no doubt. Not helping a lot of new years resolutions for those trying to get out and get moving a little bit more. Jennifer, keep us posted on the latest forecast figures. Thank you. Coming up, the explosive new comments from one of the president s most trusted advisers, steve bannon saying donald trump jr. sings with the russian was treasonous. Thats next. Welcome to inside politics. Im dana bash. John king is off. Any moment, Vice President mike pence also swear in two new Democratic Senators just in time for another Government Shutdown deadline. Plus, steve bannon calls two of the president s family members treen sonnous for attending a 2016 meeting with russians promising dirt on hillary clinton. And President Trumps combative and colorful tweets on north koreas dictator shock and concern some