Breakthrough on immigration, a 5 billion appropriation wisely spent would go a long way to securing our border. Its just not about physical barriers. Its about other things. If we could find a way to make sure that the Daca Recipients have a work permit, it certainly makes their lives better. The tps population, i think all of us are trying to find a way to help them. So theres a deal to be had. The wall has become a metaphor for border security. And what were talking about is a physical barrier where it makes sense. In the past, every democrat has voted for these physical barriers. It cant be just about because trump wants it, we no longer agree with it. Theres nothing immoral about a physical barrier along the border in places that make sense. So therell never be a deal, at the end of this year, the beginning of next, that doesnt have money for the physical barriers that we all have in the past agreed we need. The president is not asking for too much. And were going to put on the table some ideas that have been embraced in the past. The question is can we stop hating each other enough up here to find a way forward that would be a win win. Again, thats senator Lindsey Graham after spending two hours with the president at the white house. There was a lot of what he had to say. Lets begin to sort of digest this. Sarah westwood joins us from the white house. Graham saying the president is open minded to a compromise. You may not know that based on what weve heard from the white house so far though, right . Reporter thats right. Senator Lindsey Graham pitching his idea for a potential deal as something of a breakthrough if it could gain traction. He said President Trump didnt commit to the trade of some relief for the daca population in exchange for some wall funding. Keep in mind, there very several attempts to put together support for these kinds of deals in the past. Both times its fallen apart, hasnt gotten enough support to get to President Trumps desk. Senator graham also blames democrats for furthering the stalemate by constantly saying what theyre not going to fund and not saying enough about what they would support. Take a listen. All i can say is that the democrats have said theyre not going to give him a dime for a border wall. The house will change next week. Theyre going to send over a bill from the house that wont have any money for a physical barrier, a wall, fence, artistically designed slats, and thats not going to fly. So the approach the democrats have taken have made it pretty hard to have a discussion. Theyre telling us what they wont do. Acting chief of staff budget director Nick Mulvaney has suggested in the past that President Trump might be willing to come down off that 5 billion demand for wall funding, but he hasnt said by how much. Now, keep in mind theres also a debate raging right now about what exactly constitutes a wall. Outgoing chief of staff john kelly said this administration actually abandoned the idea of a physical border wall early in trumps presidency. He told the Los Angeles Times in an interview, to be honest, its not a wall. The president still says wall. Oftentimes, frankly, hell say barrier or fencing. Now hes tended towards steel slats, but we left a solid concrete wall early on in the administration. Obviously this deal that senator graham described out of his lunch with the president today still in the very early preliminary stages. We havent heard a lot about what democrats would be willing to consider. Mulvaney said Democratic Congressional leaders havent been invited back to the white house for further talks. All right. Sarah, i also find it notable that the president s only reaction, at least according to the senator, was one word. That word was interesting. Thats after two hours of lunch. Sarah westwood, thanks very much. All right. Lets talk about this. To do that, we have Wesley Lowery from the Washington Post and White House Reporter for the new york times, micha michael shear. Let me start with michael and just ask the obvious. Do you hear something out of whatever weve learned now from the senator and apparently this lunch that makes you say, hey, were on the cusp of maybe ending this partial Government Shutdown . You know, im super skeptical, martin. Look, this is senator graham expressing his own hopes. Hes been an advocate for some kind of deal like this for an awful long time, before trump was even on the scene. Then trying to figure out some deal with trump. The problem on both sides, you have democrats who are not going to be willing for the kind of limited relief for the daca population, the socalled dreamers who have been living in this country illegally since they were very small children, the kind of sort of limited relief that senator graham is talking about. The left and democrats are not going to be satisfied with that. And on trumps right, there are people like Stephen Miller and others in that community who are going to demand other sorts of restrictionist policies that cut back on different kinds of legal immigration. So when you get both of the extremes into the mix, these kinds of deals tend to fall apart. Unfortunately, i dont see any reason to think, despite senator grahams optimism this morning, i dont see any reason to think that would change. What about this thing, wesley, that the wall is not a wall, its a metaphor . Its not really this construct. Its talking about all sorts of things, whether its security, whether its a fence, or whether its perhaps legislation of some way . I think two things are true. The first is that, you know, there is something to be said for that. The president campaigned and was elected on a platform that was about securing the border broadly but also a platform that was about this feeling of who is american, who belongs here, and who does not and who potentially threatens the economy. There was some Poetic License there. That said, this was one of the chief concrete promises of candidate trump. He was going to construct a physical wall. I can imagine in fact, im almost surprised we havent seen trumps tweeting already about what john kelly said about it not really being a wall. While i think folks around the president may say that and while thats probably true in terms of the administrations policies, many of his supporters are very whetted to this idea of building this physical barrier. So much so, its one of the reasons the president has backed himself into a corner on this Government Shutdown. He said this is about constructing a wall, constructing physical barriers. Can he walk away now without getting some of that . Its unclear. Well, possibly immigration, immigration reform, and security. Very complex subjects. So you come up with one simple phrase, a wall. And bam, you use that as your kind of shorthand speak. Im wondering, wesley, the democrats may say, all right, look, i got to give you 5 billion for your border security. In exchange, im only getting something that might help these daca youths. It may not satisfy democrats. What about the public at large who are already getting very upset with seeing a partial Government Shutdown drag on . Certainly. And i think we cant lose sight of the fact that there are hundreds of thousands, almost a million federal employees whose paychecks are in peril. That doesnt even begin to count the contract employees who are not receiving pay because of this. As this stretches on, there will be increasing political pressure. This is a case where the president has said very proudly, hes boasted in the oval office about how this shutdown is on me, im going to take credit for it. Unless the democrats were to start feeling some type of political pressure, and im not sure they would, this seems like something the president will have to cave on. Michael, do you think its the president who is in the hot seat here, that democrats can sort of sit back and whaatch wh happens . I think its always dangerous for a Political Party to take for granted that the other side is going to be blamed. Politics is a kind of continually shifting business. But i do think i agree with wes. If you look at the way this particular shutdown has played out, the president seems to be more likely to be blamed by a broader sort of subset of the population than the democrats are for right now. So i think one of the ways that he may find is his only way out of this mess is to sort of declare, sort of find a way to declare victory and go move on. One of those ways might be to simply say weve already built a lot of the wall, were building more of the wall with money we already had appropriated. Im going to order the military to the border and say thatll be enough and move on to the next suj subject. That may be the way we get out of this. Real quick, wes leley. Isnt the real danger that the president says, you know what, no . That is one of the major dangers. Weve seen Democratic Leaders sa say, look, were not going to discuss any possible solutions unless we have the president endorsing it beforehand. This would be true of any executive, but particularly this one, that unless the president himself is backing this, nothing is guaranteed. Theres no deal thats guaranteed. This particular president very likely could see something hammered out, hashed out, and not like the way its playing out here on cnn or elsewhere and change his mind. Until the president himself has signed on to a deal, who knows whats going to happen. Michael, last ten seconds. How long does this go on, this partial shutdown . It lasts at least through the end of this week when the democrats will take over in the house. Then i think folks i talk to suggest it could last another week or more as they try to position themselves for who has whos going to get the blame and who can avoid it. All right. Michael and wes, thank you very much. Thanks for having us. Well, as lawmakers battle over border wall funding, hundreds of thousands of federal workers are either on furlough or working without knowing when theyll get their next paycheck. Joining me now via skype is justin, a correctional officer at u. S. Penitentiary hazelton in west virginia. He also serves as the executive Vice President of the union that represents the officers that work at that facility. Justin, thank you very much. Let me ask you this. Most americans probably dont feel significantly impacted by this, if theyre not working for the government. But you are. So what has this done both to your own life and to the morale of those officers you serve with . Well, i mean, just take for instance the shutdown started on saturday. I worked nine hours of overtime. That nine hours of pay is currently on leave without pay. That affects me, you know, if i want to travel during the holidays, buy gifts for my family, or pay off bills, as in your mortgage. So within that, that could drive morale down, especially if youre an officer. You go in to a United States penitentiary every day to protect the community, protect the inmates, to protect staff, and thats going to be on the back of your mind. That can affect you, you know, away from the prison mentally. Youre not youre told youre not going to be paid. That could drive your morale down. Of course. Im wondering, as a correctional officer, that job is a very tough task. Its also sometimes very dangerous. Does all of this weigh into the stress for your family, about your safety but their Financial Security . Oh, absolutely. I agree with that, yes, sir. You know, a lot of times when you leave the facility, sometimes youre supposed to leave that behind. Sometimes it can filter into your home life, especially if youre not going to get paid. Thats one thing you got to try to keep reserve on and keep your head up high and keep pushing and go inside of that prison done a what you can for the safety and security of the civilians of america and also the community. Does it ever make you second guess doing this job at all . In other words, going and finding some other line of work . When youre relying on the government, its becoming too unreliable. No, you know, the last shutdown we had was for 16 days. It kind of makes me put my chin up a little bit higher and say, you know, i want to keep fighting, i want to do what i can for the american public, to do the right thing. Hopefully both sides, whether youre democrat, republican, or the president , they can get this done and hash it out for us, for the voters, for the citizens. Im going to keep pushing on and do what i can for the public. We do appreciate it. Let me ask you this, and i always ask the same question, which is if you could talk to the president , if you could talk to congress, and in a way you sort of are, what would you say . What would you encourage them to do . You know, i support what everybody does on beth sides, but right now lets just get this Government Back open as quickly as possible for all of us, whether youre republican or democrat. Lets get this going and lets make sure especially during the holidays, you know, for all our federal employees, for our families, please. Justin tarovisky, thanks. We appreciate the work you do, all those men and women. Thank you, sir. Still ahead, more on the breaking news. Senator graham changing his tune, now saying President Trump made him feel better about pulling u. S. Troops from the battlefield in syria. What about the fight against isis . Well talk about that after this break. Nick, nick, we need a decision. These days we all feel a little anxious sometimes. But if you could see inside my mind; youll find i go to my happy place. See if we let tensions run the show up here, then our bodies wont perform at their best out here. Wait, arent we going to the sound check . Priorities. So im partnering with cigna, to remind you that how youre doing emotionally affects you physically. Go for your annual checkup and be open with your doctor about anything youre feeling. Physically, and emotionally. Body and mind cigna. Together all the way. Were following breaking news on syria. Moments ago after a long meeting with President Trump, senator Lindsey Graham says were, quote, in a pause situation. Graham has said he worried if the u. S. Pulls out of syria now, it could make way for an isis comeback and put u. S. Allies, such as the kurds, at risk. But after a twohour meeting with the president at the white house, graham now seems encouraged by the president s decision and says trump remains committed to defeating isis. Take a listen. I think the president has come up with a plan with his generals generals that makes sense to me. The goal is to make sure isis doesnt come back. We left iraq too soon. We had them on the ropes in iraq, left too soon. I think the president s very committed to making sure when we leave syria that isis is completely defeated and were inside the tenyard line. And the iran kurd situation has to be dealt with. I think were in a pause situation. Were reevaluating whats the best way to achieve the president s objective of having people pay more and do more. With me now to discuss is a retired air force colonel. Thank you for being here. You bet, martin. Let. Let me start with you, colonel. I listened to senator graham. I initially thought he went in there to change the president s mind. Im not sure whose mind got changed here. Let me ask where are professional opinion. Did you like what you heard . Im very concerned about it, martin. I really didnt like what i heard because i heard somebody who seemed to have been convinced by the president that it was the right thing to do to pull our troops out at this particular point in time. But then on the other hand, theres this talk about staying the course and defeating isis. That part i definitely applaud. If theres a plan to make that happen, thats wonderful. The only problem that you have with it is if you dont have troops on the ground or at least a provision for people to get into syria in some way or form, then that would become almost an undoable type of plan. It really wouldnt work in an operational sense. And aaron, speaking of the undoable, the president s announcement to pull the troops out has already prompted defense secretary mattis to resign. Its forced the kurds now to apparently go to the assad regime to ask for some kind of protection. Of course, the russians seem to be applauding all of this. Im wondering, has the damage already been done . Have the dominos in the region already started to fall and you cant butt this genput this gen . The process was abysmal. Without consultation, without deliberation, no briefing of congress, no briefing of allies, delighted adversaries, allies feeling betrayed, and no effort to negotiate conditional withdrawal with the russians and the turks in order to do what we could to constrain turkey and get the russians involved in trying to broker a deal between the Syrian Government and the kurds. Look, the kurds have maintained their connections to the Syrian Regime and have been hedging their bets, i suspect, for months now. I mean, i think the process of Decision Making that led to withdrawal was horrible. But im not entirely persuaded that the compelling arguments for keeping 2200 American Forces in syria with an openended mission and inflated goals that we cannot possibly achieve really is the right course of action. You want to defeat isis, and i think the notion of defeating isis isis is not japan or germany. Youre not going to break their will to fight. Theyre going to be in syria because the syrian Humpty Dumpty is broken, dysfunctional. The assad regime adds to that. So do the russians. Its degrading containing isis. I think thats the strategy. Thats going to be more difficult without American Forces, no doubt. Colonel, what about you know, we do have forces in western iraq, which is very close to the border with syria. Isnt it possible you could pursue the same objectives without u. S. Forces on the ground in syria but just across the way in western iraq . From a strictly military standpoint, it is possible to do at least part of that mission, especially when youre looking at, lets say, the part of the Euphrates River valley that borders the iraqi border. So yes, you could do it. You could do a lot of things with standoff weapons. However, from a plolitical standpoint and from an allied standpoint, it really becomes important to have some degree of connection with our allies on the ground there. Wars in the middle east are generally won by having people on the grounds. It is not the kind of place, as we found out in iraq, where you can go in and do things from the air or do things remotely and achieve permanent success. Thats the kind of problem that we run into. It really depends on the goals that we have and those goals really need to be articulated in a clear fashion, and i really havent seen that yet. Aaron, i want to remind our viewers just how much well, how senator graham blasted the president s decision to pull out of syria a couple weeks ago. Take a listen. It hurt so much to know that everybody that weve talked to, many of them are going to get killed. They did the honorable thing to come to our aid to help destroy a common enemy of mankind, isis. We have been dishonorable. This is a stain on the honor of the United States. I hope and pray the president will reconsider this. You know, listening to the senator, and no disrespect, it sounded like he was the one thats done the reconsidering here. I think, again, youre talking about a president that has willfully made a determination to withdraw from the iran agreement, to recognize jou jerusalem as the capital and move the embassy, and hes wanted to get out of syria. I expect within the next year we wont be there anymore, at least with the force deployments we have now. And again, aaron, graham is talking about the president wanting others in the region help pay for this fight. This is a theme hes used a lot when it comes to military defense. Whos he talking about . Whos going to foot the bill . I think you know the answer to that one. Its his new and best friend, mohammed bin salman. Hes already bragged about the fact the saudis are prepared to do much more. Frankly, thats a fantasy. The saudis are not going to throw money into syria. Iraq may be a different story, but not into syria. Theyre not an ally to the United States. Theyre not upholding american interests or values. And colonel, what happens to the assad regime if the u. S. Pulls its forces out of that country . I think, martin, its going to be strengthened. Its already gone past the Tipping Point that it was at a few months ago where we thought it might be possible for that regime to be changed or at least removed. But thats not going to happen. Assad is strengthened. Assad will stay there as long as the russians and iranians want them to. Of course. Colonel Cedric Leighton and aaron, thank you. Still ahead, details on the millions Time Magazine says manafort owed the russian government during the height of trumps campaign. Hey kurt, are you watching the best of geico . I sure am, linda. Theyve been saving folks money for years. And now theyre reairing some of their alltime greatest hits. With classics like. Hump day. Caveman airport. And even. Celebrating squirrels. This crudite is great, but those geico ads are even better. But thats not all. Vote today and you can enter for a chance to appear in an upcoming geico commercial. Just visit geico. Com bestof. Oh, geico. So we improved everything. We used 50 fewer ingredients added one handed pumps and beat the top Safety Standards the new johnsons® choose gentle woman too late for lunch. O minutes. Starkist saves the day. Sweet and spicy tuna in a pouch smart choice, charlie. charlie no drain, no pain. Just tear, eat. And go try all of my tuna, salmon and chicken pouches. Theres no place likargh e im trying. Yippiekiyay. Mom. The russia collusion fabrication is the greatest hoax in the history of american politics. I didnt say that. Thats what the president said yesterday on twitter. He must not be reading Time Magazine. Because time is reporting the chairman of the president s election campaign, Paul Manafort, was in touch with a former russian Intelligence Officer who was pressuring him over millions of dollars he allegedly owed to a billionaire with ties to the kremlin. Cnns Senior International correspondent Matthew Chance joins me now. Matthew, essentially what is Time Magazine alleging here . Good to see you, by the way. Reporter good to see you too. Well, its a complicated thing. What Time Magazine has found is a small piece of a much bigger puzzle as to whether or not there was collusion, of course, in any way between russia and the Trump Campaign as it was then. Theyve managed to sort of grab a very short ad hoc interview with a character whos identified as a former Intelligence Officer in russia. Hes also a former arms dealer. He was recently named on a list of individuals to be sanctioned by the United States. And it seems that as time says, this is the sort of person who was the go between, between allegedly Paul Manafort, who was at the time the Campaign Chairman for donald trump, and a very rich russian businessman, one of the richest people in russia, whos very close to vladimir putin, the russian president. Because of a business deal that went wrong and im sorry this is a bit convoluted. Because of a business deal that went wrong between Paul Manafort and this billionaire, manafort was being sued for millions of dollars. It seems that victor was a kind of debt collector. He was sent to try and put pressure on Paul Manafort during the time that he was the campaign chief for donald trump, to repay that debt. Apparently, according to this time report, he said that manafort was offering ways to pay back the money, which is interesting because what we already know is in email exchanges, Paul Manafort suggested giving private briefings during that time when he was the campaign chief, in a way to sort of get even. It was a get whole, i think is the phrase he used. And it would be interesting, wouldnt it, to hear from this character, to try and find out exactly what it is that mr. Manafort was offering. Unfortunately, were not going to be able to do that because the mueller inquiry has already approached him. Hes basically respondentd to tm negatively, saying they can dig a ditch, according to Time Magazine. Do you expect there will be any other reaction from russian leadership, perhaps, to this article, or are they just going to ignore it . Reporter i suspect that unless theyre specifically asked by someone to react, theyre going to try and ignore it. And if they do react at all, i think were probably going to hear yet another denial of the kind weve heard time and again, both from the Trump Campaign and from the kremlin when it comes to any suggestion of collusion. Certainly makes for interesting reading. So we appreciate all the insights, matthew. Thank you very much. In just four days, democrats are going to take control of the house. That means that their first chance to demand answers and actually expect to receive them via issuing subpoenas, well, cnns randi kaye takes a look at where they could start. Thats the trump Family Business empire. Reporter is the Trump Organization mixed up in Money Laundering . Thats what some members of Congress Want to find out. Deutsche bank has a history of illegally laundering money and a relationship with the Trump Organization. They paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines to the state of new york because they were laundering russian money. This apparently was the one bank that was willing to do business with the Trump Organization. Now, is that a coincidence . Reporter theres also the Michael Cohen problem. The Trump Organizations longtime lawyer pleaded guilty in august to eight counts, including Campaign Finance violations tied to his work for trump, which cohen says included payments designed to silence women who claim they had affairs with trump, which trump has denied. He directed me to make the payments. He directed me to become involved in these matters. Reporter voters were kept in the dark as they headed to the polls. Yet, cohen admitted in Court Filings that in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office, he kept information that would have harmed trump from being made public during the 2016 election cycle. And what about that proposed trump tower in moscow . Cohen had previously said talks about the mississiposcow projecd in january 2016, before the iowa caucuses. Turns out, that was a lie. According to rudy giuliani, the talks continued into november, the month of the election. Cohen admitted he made false statements out of loyalty to individual one. Just who is individual one . Donald trump. All of this matters because if its true, it could prove trump was seeking business with russia while moscow was secretly working to get him elected. And speaking of hotels, attorneys general for maryland and d. C. Have filed a lawsuit and subpoenaed financial records from the Trump Organization and the Trump International hotel in d. C. This is the most coveted piece of real estate in washington, d. C. The best location. Reporter the hotel plays host to foreign officials and leaders from around the world. The lawsuit suggests the president breached the emoluments clause of the constitution, which prohibits the president from accepting payments from foreign powers while in office. All said, at least five committees in congress now poised to probe the Trump Organization on everything trumps touched, including his yet to be released tax returns. Randi kaye, cnn, new york. Thank you, randi. Next up, californias largest utility could face manslaughter, maybe murder charges for its role in the states deadliest wildfires. We will tell you what the state attorney general is thinking about. In my ethnicity i have all sorts of things that i never would have imagined. Ancestrydna was able to tell me where my fathers family came from in columbia. Its just been a reconnection to my roots. 20 million members have connected to a deeper family story. Order your kit at ancestry. Com. Pacific gas and electric could face murder, even manslaughter, charges for its role in californias deadly wildfires. The wildfires in california claimed the lives of more than 80 people and caused billions of dollars in damage. Cnns Miguel Marquez is following these developments for us. Miguel, just remind us again, a Utility Company is, what, thought somehow connected to these fires how . Reporter well, sure, because they have a lot of lines on federal property, and over the years there have been several fires started by electric companies. What this relates to is a federal judge overseeing pg es possible conviction if recklessness is found in this years camp fire, the deadliest fire in californias history. The attorney general suggested a range of possibilities, everything from misdemeanors if pg e didnt maintain vegetation and power lines in fire prone areas or possibly felonies or misdemeanors if pg e actually started a fire. Finally, there could be manslaughter or homicide charges, what they called implied malice murder, not like they meant to do it but it happened with a certain degree of recklessness. Thats the question. All this depends on the degree of recklessness on the companys behalf that any possible investigation could find in any of these fires. The federal judge oversees pg es probation for six felonies. The company was convicted of these in the 2010 san bruno gas line explosion where eight people died. Pg e did not respond directly to the ags filing, the opinion, but said in a statement, pg es most important responsibility is public and work force safety. Our focus continues to be on assessing our infrastructure to further enhance safety and helping our customers continue to recover and rebuild. There are enormous stakes in all of this for pg e. Its one of the largest gas and electric utilities. The Company Faces a potential 15 billion liability for the 2017 wine country fires and could face even much more for this years fires. Pg e says it has already implemented new and enhanced safety measures, including upgrading its Vegetation Management efforts, conducting safety inspections, and in some cases turning off electric power when extreme fire conditions are forecast. All this happening against an extraordinarily stark background as california, pg e, and all utilities across the state are looking at a future of more increased and extreme fire activity as the west becomes hotter, drier, and more combustible. Martin . Real quick, miguel. These charges, if they came about, would they be filed against the executives or a linesman . Reporter its so speculative at this point there would even be charges. The a. G. Was just laying out a complete picture. All right. Understood. Miguel, thank you. Well take a break, be back right after this. The zip code youre born into can determine your future. Your school. Your job. Your dreams. Your problems. indistinct shouting but at the y, we create opportunities for everyone, no matter who you are or where youre from. For a better us, donate to your local y today. These days were all stressed. I hear you, sister. Stress can affect our minds. I call this dish, stress. Stress can also affect our bodies. So, im partnering with cigna to remind you that your emotional and physical health are more connected than you think. Go in for your annual checkup. And be open with your doctor about anything you feel. Physically, and emotionally. Body and mind. Cigna. Together, all the way. Thats better. Youre smart,eat you already knew that. But its also great for finding the perfect used car. Youll see what a fair price is and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. Now youre even smarter. This is truecar. 2018 was a big year for the department of justice. Indictments, investigations, and of course the departure of the attorney general. Laura jarrett looks back at the top justice stories of 2018. Reporter 2018 produced a downpour of news from the Justice Department. Indictments, immigration battles, clashes with capitol hill, the departure of an attorney general, and an investigation looming over the presidency. Here are the top eight stories in 2018. Number eight, the rise of hate. 11 people dead. Six people wounded in what one fbi agent calls the most horrific crime he has ever seen. The suspect, 46yearold robert bowers. His social media accounts littered with antisemitic and antiimmigrant views. Reporter in october, a massacre of jewish worshippers at a synagogue in pittsburgh. And in kentucky, the Fatal Shooting of two black people at a grocery store, bringing an uptick of hate crimes into sharp focus. Hate crimes shot up 17 . The motivation for nearly 60 of those, the government says, was race, ethnicity, or ancestry. Reporter number seven, trumps war on the justice system. President trump making a Strong Demand on twitter just moments ago. Reporter trump upped the ante on the Justice Department and the fbi in 2018, demanding they investigate whether his campaign was spied on for political reasons. The president is on a tweet storm this morning to make unproven claims of something that he is now calling spygate. Just minutes ago, he made this now a thing. Reporter while also going after his political rivals. Theres a lingering stench, and were going to get rid of that too. Reporter in unprecedented ways. Ive decided to revoke the security clearance of john brennan, former director of the Central Intelligence agency. Reporter number six, the Justice Department versus capitol hill. As the special counsels russia investigation marched on, trumps allies on capitol hill pressured the Justice Department to turn over highly classified documents about how it all started. I think they should understand by now the department of justice is not going to be x extorted. Reporter then with the backing of the white house, republicans on the Intelligence Committee reduced a highly controversial report, accusing the fbi of misconduct and obtaining a warrant to monitor former agent carter page. Whereas others on the hill who actually reviewed the materials concluded the fbi did nothing wrong. I am even more convinced that the fbi did exactly what my fellow citizens would want them to do. Reporter number five, the immigration battle. We care we care reporter amid an outcry, a federal judge swiftly blocked the Trump Administration from separating parents from their children, and the president backed down. The republicans want security and insist on security for our country. You will have that at the same time we have compassion. We want to keep families together. Reporter then another judge blocked the administrations efforts to limit asylum, saying the president violated a clear command from congress. Number four, when the courts checked trump. You go to the ninth scircuit and its a disgrace. Im going to put in a major complaint because you cannot win if youre us. Reporter while the president often lashes out at the ninth Circuit Court of appeals on the west coast, in reality they had a losing streak across the country. But trump did score one major victory. A judge in texas striking down the Affordable Care act, teeing up a fight guaranteed to land in the Supreme Court, a court with a new conservative majority. But chief Justice John Roberts also issued a rare warning against trumps criticism of judges saying, quote, we do not have obama judges or trump judges, bush judges or clinton judges. The independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for. Number three, reshaping the federal courts. On this vote, the ayes are 50, the nays are 48. Reporter the president secured a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for decades to come with the confirmation of Justice Brett kavanaugh in october. Confronted with allegations by Christine Blasey ford that kavanaugh tried to rape her when they were teenagers, something he fiercely denied, but caused a nailbiting process until the end. The process was contention, and emotional. That is over. I take this office with no bitterness. Reporter a leg say that will far outlast the trump presidency. Number two, justice shakeup. Breaking news right now. The attorney general of the United States, Jeff Sessions, has now resigned. The long expected departure of one of trumps earlier supporters coming after months of blistering attacks, all because Jeff Sessions stepped away from overseeing the russia investigation. He took the job and then he said, im going to recuse myself. I said, what kind of a man is this . Reporter trump tapped matt whitaker, sessions former chief of staff, to take the reins temporarily, unleashing a series of legal challenges because he wasnt confirmed by the senate. But soon, a man who once served as attorney general under george h. W. Bush, would he merge as the president s permanent pick. One of the most respected jurists in the country. He will be nominated for the United States attorney general. Reporter number one, the russia investigation. The special counsels investigation into russian interference in the 2016 election ramped up this year with multiple subpoenas, flipped witnesses, dozens of indictments, and five guilty pleas, including from some highlevel members of the Trump Campaign. The headspinning volume of material churned out by Robert Mueller and other federal prosecutors puts trumps campaign, transition, and inaugural committee now all under active investigation. While Michael Cohen, the president s former attorney and fixer, agreed to cooperate with investigators. The man doesnt tell the truth, and its sad that i should take responsibility for his dirty deeds. Reporter theres no telling what 2019 will bring, but the Justice Department delivered a series of blows to trump this year in his personal, business, and political life, all with a blast radius that remains to be seen. Now lets talk about what lies ahead. Ring in 2019 with us. Anderson cooper and andy cohen cohost new years eve coverage live from times square with Brooke Baldwin and don lemon. The party starts at 8 00 p. M. Eastern here on cnn. Still to come, an amazing feat, historic, really. An oregon man managed to hike the entire continent of antarctica without any help at all. How he did it, next. Aaaaaahhhhhhhh ballooned your car. Call meeeee burke a flyby ballooning. Seen it, covered it. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum so we improved everything. We used 50 fewer ingredients added one handed pumps and beat the top Safety Standards the new johnsons® choose gentle america can count on a new record. An oregon man, colin obrady, the First American to cross antarctica solo, that means without any help. Cnns Kaylee Hartung takes a look at his amazing journey and what motivated him. Reporter after 54 days and more than 900 miles minus 30 degrees out, winds blowing 60mileperhour. Windchill is like minus 100, something crazy. Reporter this 33yearold american became the first person in history to traverse the barren and frigid continent of antarctica alone. Every morning id wake up and tell myself my mantra. Youre strong. Youre capable. You can do this. Reporter 12 to 13 hours a day he would ski, he said, pulling this sled, equipped with everything he needed to survive the duration of the journey. Obrady says the last 32 hours of the journey were some of the most challenging hours of his life. He sprinted the final 80 miles in one continuous push. After he crossed the invisible finish line, he immediately c l called his wife jenna. It was an emotional conversation. We were just all screaming and hooting and hollering that he was there safe. Reporter theyve known pride before. Obrady had already climbed the tallest mountain on each continent a continent. Fantastic accomplishments for anyone, milestones that have extra significant for obrady. Ten years ago he was severely injured in a fire, burns covered nearly a quarter of his body. Doctors warned him he nay never walk again normally. But obrady was determined to come back stronger than before. Doing this something for more than myself, to inspire other people to take on the impossible in their lives. Kaylee hartung, cnn. Thats a wonderful way to wrap it up. Thanks so much for joining me. Im martin savidge. The news continues now with ryan nobles. Martin, thank you. You are in the cnn newsroom. Im ryan nobles, in today for ana cabrera. Were in new york. Sunday in washington, d. C. , another day of a partial Government Shutdown, day number nine. Another day when around 800,000 federal employees will wonder again when they will be paid. Youve seen here on cnn, many of those people telling us their Bank Accounts are now empty or frighteningly close. They have to cover their rent, their bills, and buy food. Remember the reason, two words, the wall. We are going to build a great border wall. We will build a