Transcripts For CNNW Inside Politics 20171112

Welcome to inside politics, im john king. To our viewers in the United States and around the world, thank you for sharing your sunday. A lot to talk about. The Republican Party torn apart by a morals crisis. Its Christian Conservative Senate Candidate in alabama is accused of pursuing girls when they were in their teens and molesting one of them. But roy moore is ignoring calls to step aside. My opponent is 11 points behind. That came out just days before this article came out. Theyre desperate. This article is a prime example of fake news. We do not intend to let the democrats or the established republicans or anybody else behind this story stop this campaign. Plus, the republicans were already a bit of a mess. Racing now to pass a tax cut plan after a stunning offyear election rebuke that proved democrats are energized and that President Trump is a big drag on republican candidates. I think that last night was a referendum. I dont think theres any way that you can look at it in a different way, to be honest with you, and be intellectually consistent. Reporter up first, though, President Trump is in the philippines today, winding down his asia trip with flashes of anger and walking back words critics labeled not only as unpresident ial, but some called unamerican. On air force one, the president called former Intelligence Agency chiefs hacks, and said he believed Vladimir Putin when the russian president denied meddling in the 2016 president ial election. But hours later in vietnam, after pushback from his own National Security team, the president changed his tune. I believe that he feels that he and russia did not meddle in the election. As to whether i believe it or not, im with our agencies, especially as currently constituted with our leadership. I believe in our intel agencies, our intelligence agencies. Ive worked with them very strongly. With us this sunday to sharing their reporting and insights, abby phillip of cnn, Michael Warren of the Weekly Standard and margaret tal of bloomberg. On air force one saturday, this is how the president characterized his asia trip chat with russias president. Quote, he said he didnt meddle. He said he didnt meddle, the president told reporters. That was on air force one. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times. Every time he sees me, he says, i didnt do that. And i believe i really believe that when he tells me that, he means it of i think he is very insulted by it. In that same conversation, the president labeled as hacks the men who led the intelligence agencies that concluded russia mounted an effort to intervene in the 2016 campaign with the goal of helping mr. Trump. But hours later, and after his own cia put out a statement saying there is no doubt russia did meddle, the president retreated. Sort of. He said he agrees with the current leaders of the Intelligence Community, you just heard him, but he sees little value in holding putin, russia, accountable. Im not looking to stand and start arguing with somebody when theres reporters all around and cameras recording and seeing our conversation. I think it was very obvious to everybody. I believe that president putin really feels, and he feels strongly, that he did not meddle in our election. What he believes is what he believes. What i believe is that we have to get to work. By getting to work, its very clear the president thinks the sanctions that Congress Demanded are an impediment to him doing his work. Where are we here . If you look at the president s twitter feed in the last 24 hours, if you take what he said on air force one, when he was himself, unscripted, talking with reporters, take that and then take what he said when he got on the ground in vietnam after his own National Security team said, um, sir . Where are we . He always needs to be, i think, under duress to get to the place where the rest of the government is. And its worth noting here that it isnt just that trumps cia director and trumps intelligence officials believe this. Current officials believe what the former officials that russia meddled in the election. The only person that doesnt seem to believe that is President Trump. So i think there are some issues with getting trump to the right place. But clearly, he did a little bit of a 180turn on this one. And i think that there is a secondary problem, which is going overseas as a president and essentially slamming the institution. Slamming the Intelligence Community as an institution, the credibility of the people who have held roles in the past. Its just really i think that thats very unusual for a president to be overseas and to do Something Like that, especially on an issue of whether or not a Foreign Government tried to intervene in our elections. I think it sets really a different precedent for him to do that in this moment. And to add to that point, unusual for an american president , any american president , to criticize his own government, even prior administrations went overseas. On this trip, this president of the United States has also been in china, vietnam and now the philippines, and at least as of when we came on the air, not one public word about the human rights records in any of those places. This is what john mccain said about that very point. There is nothing America First about taking the word of a kgb colonel over that of the american Intelligence Community. Vladimir putin does not have americas interests at heart. To believe otherwise is not only naive, but also places our National Security at risk. Well, this is the problem with the type of language, the way that the president speaks, which is you cant really be sure of what exactly he means. I mean, if you read actually the words that he said in that initial air force one discussion, he says that he believes that putin believes this. Well, what are we supposed to do with that . Are we supposed to is the president saying he accepts putins view of these things . Now he says no. I think we should back up, though, a little bit and say that the Intelligence Community and sort of different intelligence agencies are not above criticism. A couple weeks ago we found out fully, for instance, the bin laden documents that were received from his compound in pakistan, there was an effort in some in the Intellgence Community to keep those under locks and key. And this is something the president is well aware of. The problem is that its everybody in the administration. Everybody in the Intelligence Community. There is nobody in the white house, even, no disagrees with the view that russia did something. Except for the president. And thats a problem. Except for the president. I want to jump in on this point. Because hes ten months in office now. This is not a fact of dispute any more. Heres what we know. The fbi and other intelligence agencies say there is no question russia was involved in the dnc hack and the clinton email hacks. There were 80,000 facebook posts that have been linked back 80,000 facebook posts seen by as many as 126 Million People linked back to russian accounts. 200 twitter accounts linked back to russia. 18 Youtube Channels linked back to russia. 170 instagram accounts linked back to russia during the campaign. This is not an if any more, except apparently to one man. And its because, ironically, his insistence on taking everything personally, makes everything a story about him. It would have been conceivable or you could imagine a different president , perhaps, who could say that they accept these conclusions and its not about them. This is a story about russia. This is a story about our institutions. But the fact that trump believes this is about him, believes it is an attack on him and accusation against him and attempt to de legitimize him, that he is unable not to make it a story thats just about trump and his victory and his relationships and so on. I mean, i think the second statement that he made about wanting to move past this issue to have a productive relationship with russia, had he started there, it still would have been controversial. But it would not necessarily have just been a story about trump. You can say you can say, putin says he didnt do it. Of course, he did it. But hes not going to publicly admit it. So my job now is to enforce the sanctions and try to do constructive business on other areas. Thats what Ronald Reagan did when he stared down the then soviet union. He said some tough things. He called them out. Called them what they were. But also did business with them. This president wont call them what they are. There are many republicans, both in congress and inside the white house, who would like the president to start separating these issues. To talk about what needs to be done Going Forward in terms of what the russians did and what they could do heading into the next election cycle and find a way to surgically remove the president from that process. And the problem with what happened yesterday is that regardless of what he said second, we all heard what he said first. And what he said first is, in his mind, the way the situation should be viewed, the lens through which it should be cast. Everything that he says publicly is also material for the Mueller Investigation as it moves forward. And this is just very its complicated for him to talk about it. And so his reluctance to talk about it is understandable. But he has to talk about it, because hes the leader of the United States and the free world. And needs to send really clear, public signals. And its understandable that he sees that if he really goes full bore on this, it will complicate russian cooperation in syria and korea. Hes got to find a way to talk about it without giving russians a pass. Without doing exactly what the russians want him to do. What he said on air force one is exactly what the russians want him to say. Its not its no not just he doesnt think its a big issue, he is channelling their own lines, when he says, lets step back. Does this become sort of the legacy of his first big asia trip, that he talked about in the sense we have seen him at the table and the president has talked about how wellreceived he has been. But what do we have . The president has said he believes president xi will increase the sanctions on north korea. Well keep an eye on that one. Are there any other deliverables for this president . He has been talking about trade. But hes been in office for ten months. In china, in vietnam. Now in the philippines. No trade deals with any of these countries. No single oneoffs. What does he have . I think its a little bit the challenge for this white house is that they want to be successful in some really tough areas. Trade, i think, is actually really difficult for them to kind of maneuver here. Because trump wants to go his own way and separate from the ethos of past president s. He wants to have a little bit more of a strong arm on trade. I think thats going to take time to do. And also, the north korea issue is really the most vexing of them all. And its really literally not one that hes going to resolve as a result of a tenday trip. So it is possible. I mean, i think we should put the possibility out there that over time, there might be results of a strategy that basically says, we are going to put the goals of cooperation first, and, you know, minor disputes second. And if that brings china closer to where the administration wants them to be, if it brings russia closer to where the administration wants them to be, then maybe well see results. We just havent yet. And i think that there are a lot of people who are smarter than me about Foreign Policy who say that its not that easy. That on some level, you have to walk and chew gum at the same time. You have to uphold certain values, defend the United States against intervention while also demanding cooperation on issues where, you know, mutual agreement is necessary. And i think particularly with regard to china, right . Because china was such a focus of the campaign. The idea that the chinese are taking advantage of us. And then, you know, on day one he pulls out of the tpp, which, if anything, empowers china economically. And the administration has not then moved to, as you said, replace that with other Bilateral Agreements that might undercut chinas economic dominance. So the Trump Campaign said we have all this economic leverage over china, were going to crack the whip and make them help us with problems on north korea, that has not been a successful approach so far. And in part because of these conflicting objectives. And so but its also possible that thats still coming. Something came out of this trip, and that we will see more pressure. Well keep an eye on that. Up next, Roy Moore Says allegations of Sexual Misconduct with teenagers are false and politically motivated. And he tells the republican establishment, back off. He isnt quitting the race. First, though, politicians say the darndest things. Snls mike pence offers advice to roy moore. Alabama is a great place. But we cant take chances. Mike, look, its all guys. Im not that guy. Perhaps, roy. Perhaps. But its hard to convince people that youre not into young girls when youre just like woody from toy story. Do we have to do it this way . Cant you call the boss . 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Times up, insufficient prenatal care. And administrative paperwork, your days of drowning people are numbered. Same goes for you, budget overruns. And rising costs, wipe that smile off your face. Were coming for you too. At optum, were partnering across the Health System to tackle its biggest challenges. Welcome back. Alabamas special Senate Election is in a month, and Roy Moore Says he isnt going anywhere. These attacks involve a minor, and theyre completely false and untrue. I have not been guilty of Sexual Misconduct with anyone. These allegations came only four and a half weeks before the general election on december 12th. Why now . Four women have come forward to say moore pursued them years ago when he was in his 30s and they were in their teens. One of the four, lee kauffman, told the Washington Post she was 14 and moore helped her undress and touched her through her bra and underwear. Alabamas age of consent is 16. I dont know miss corpman from anybody. Ive never talked to her. Never had any contact with her. Allegations of Sexual Misconduct with her are completely false. I believe theyre politically motivated. I believe theyre brought only to stop a very successful campaign, and thats what theyre doing. I have never known this woman or anything. Roy moore, quite emphatic there. The women say they stand by their accounts, which leaves us where, with a month to go . One of the interesting questions is the republicans, number one, the committee has pulled its money from the race. Number two, the republican establishment wants roy moore to get out. He made clear over the weekend hes not getting out. Is this now on the president in that a lot of republicans want the president , when he comes home from asia to try to get on the phone with roy moore, will the president do that and say get out, and if not, give the governor cover to move the election. That would be controversial. The white house is saying they want roy moore to have a chance to defend himself. This is what they said before the sean hannity interview. Now roy moore has defended himself. And its at this point now where the question is, initially these republican senators when being asked about it, the white house being asked about it, if the allegations are true. Now we have roy moore denying them. We have just taking the one case, we have the then 14yearold girl, now woman, telling us this. Her mother, and two friends she told contemporaneously. Who do you believe . And thats the question right now for the white house. This is something that the president is going to have to address when he gets home. And i think its an open question right now of whether or not hes going to be willing to believe and remember he has an out here politically, which is he never endorsed roy moore until after he won that primary runoff. And certainly these womens allegations are very credible when you look at them en masse. The problem for the white house, other than the fact this isnt really President Trumps brand to call out social injustice and eject people from elections, is that roy moore will appear on the ballot anyway. And that the republicans certainly have the ability to try to throw in a spoiler candidate or something on the side or up the middle. But ultimately, the control of the senate does hang at a certain point in the balance and that explains what all not immediately, but chipping away towards it. So that explains sort of the conundrum for the entire party. But the risk for the Republican Party, set aside the obvious kind of point that it maybe doesnt matter what the risk for any party is, matters to do something about this, is that the problem for the Republican Party is that this could translate beyond the alabama race, beyond control of a chamber and affect the entire impression that American Voters have about republicans. And a lot of folks are concerned, both personally about it, they feel very uncomfortable standing beside him, given where these allegations are at this point, but also in terms of the political implications. Right. And you see that in terms of politics here. You have a Christian Conservative candidate whose whole career in politics has been about putting morality and the bible ahead of anything, even law, even orders from federal courts on occasion, now accused of reprehensible personal conduct that could taint the whole republican brand, playing out in the context of the National Conversation now about sexual harassment. From Harvey Weinstein to everything else. Well, and its women voters that the Republican Party is so worried about. Were going to talk about the Election Results this week, particularly in virginia. There was a surgeon turnout among women voters. Those are the voters republicans are worried about, could have an impact beyond this one senate race. That these are the voters who have been the most sort of galvanized since 2016, where we see a surge in enthusiasm. And if theyre looking at the republican brand nationally, and thats why you do have so Many National republicans running screaming in the other direction from roy moore. Not equivocating, not calling it fake news, giving him a chance to defend himself, but then a lot of republicans in the senate have called on him to drop out. They have tried to make this a clean break, not wanting to associate with him in any way, because they know the entire party brand risks being tainted by this. I think its wishful thinking, though, that republicans want to put this on trump, or even that their lack of endorsement will matter in this case. Remember, roy moore ran this race really because, in spite of Mitch Mcconnell saying i dont want this guy to win. In spite of the president going there. Not endorsing him. And you already have steve bannon coming out and saying, im going to stand by roy moore in this case. And i think that its important to just keep in mind that roy moore is not a candidate who cares about these kinds of endorsements, or whose candidacy was successful because of it. And so i dont think its its n it it its not intellectually honest. Or that the president suddenly is going to signal to republicans in alabama. Im just talking about regular old voters. When trump endorsed roy moores opponent, he gave a wink and a nod to roy moore, saying, hey, this guy will be okay, anyway. Even if i dont endorse him right now. If trump comes back home and says, hey, i think this is reprehensible, dont be surprised if there is also a wink and a nod, saying, but well keep control of the senate. Trump has been willing to sort of make those kinds of signals to his base, and they have paid attention to them. Lets not rule out the possibility that roy moore could lose the election. Its sort of an outside chance, but who knows. Theres still a month. There is a democratic candidate who democrats might actually put some effort behind. Exactly. Now, i talked to a Republican Campaign strategist this weekend who said big concern for this, and speaking of women voters, would be if this story remains on local tv news, in places like birmingham and mobile. Its a sex story. So its something that could lead, if you hear more allegations, more women come out, we havent seen that yesterday. But if that happens, that keeps the story going. This is the kind of thing you could really see a sort of reversal of the 2010 massachusetts special election where scott brown surprised everybody and won. And a law and order democrat as an alternative. So well keep an eye on that. The president when he gets back and behind the scenes republicans are checking with lawyers to find out if they have any options, ranging from moving the election to perhaps not seating roy moore. Up next, the most unusual thing about last weeks big elections, they followed the old rules, not the trump rules. You nervous . Accused of obstructing justice to theat the fbinuclear war, and of violating the constitution by taking money from Foreign Governments and threatening to shut down news organizations that report the truth. If that isnt a case for impeaching and removing a dangerous president , then what has our government become . Im tom steyer, and like you, im a citizen who knows its up to us to do something. Its why im funding this effort to raise our voices together and demand that elected officials take a stand on impeachment. A Republican Congress once impeached a president for far less. Yet today people in congress and his own administration know that this president is a clear and present danger whos mentally unstable and armed with nuclear weapons. And they do nothing. Join us and tell your member of congress that they have a moral responsibility to stop doing whats political and start doing whats right. Our country depends on it. Pressure relieving comfort, and our 90day, complete satisfaction trial, will make tossing and turning a thing of the past. Plus, during our veterans day Savings Event, save up to 500 on select Adjustable Mattress sets. Find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic. Com. Just like the people every business is different. But every one of those businesses will need legal help as they age and grow. Whether it be with customer contracts, agreements to lease a space or protecting your work. Legalzooms network of attorneys can help you, every step of the way. So you can focus on what you do and well handle the legal stuff that comes up along the way. Legalzoom. Legal help is here. Welcome back. An odd thing happened this past tuesday. The election, the offyear election, followed the normal rules of politics. Something that hasnt happened much since donald trump switched from businessman to politician. Mr. Trump rewrote the rules of politics on the path to the presidency. But he has historically horrible poll numbers as he approaches the ten month mark. And the voters message this tuesday was a stunning rebuke of the president and his party. Lets look at virginia. The democrat won the governors race in a blowout. Virginias blue, democrats are supposed to win virginia. But look at that margin. That is not normal. Heres another thing to look at. Lets just come up here to the washington, d. C. , suburbs. Thats fairfax. This is arlington. Yes, the democrats are supposed to win in blue arlington. But what does that tell you . 80 to 19. That tells you democrats are swarming to the polls. Huge democratic turnout in very low republican performance in the suburb. Thats one reason democrats are very happy. Their voters are energized. Lets come over here. Suburban loudoun county. Fastgrowing county outside of washington, d. C. A blowout. The democrat winning with nearly 60 of the vote. Lets go back just three years. Ed gillespie, same republican candidate, ran in a senate race. Now, its a different climate, but still, he won loudoun county, just barely. But he won it just three years ago. Another warning sign for the republicans. Something that makes democrats happy. I just want to drop one more down here. South of richmond, chesterfield county. This is republican territory. Look how ed gillespie won big there three years ago. Now look now. Just barely winning. Just barely winning. Essentially a dead heat. Add all of this up, republicans underperforming in the suburbs, underperforming in the ex urban areas traditionally good for republicans. Democrats flooding the polls, especially those women voters molly talked about a few moments ago. The results cause an overnight shift in the 2018 landscape. Just weeks ago, democratic hopes of retaking control of the house, a long shot at best. Now, some smart money puts the odds at even. Maybe better. The door is certainly open for us. In 05 right now we had president bush down to 38 . Thats approximately where President Trump is now. That opens the door. That means we get the fresh recruits and they get the retirements. A fair read by nancy pelosi, or an overread . I think that shes actually kind of measured there. Shes saying the door is open. The question mark is, are democrats going to walk through the door, are they going to trip at the doorstep. Its unclear. I think there is a real opportunity here. I was really surprised after tuesday by just the degree to which the numbers were so huge in just to the point that you just made. They were so huge in some of these democratic counties and districts. And it really i highlighted to me how hillary clinton, even though she beat donald trump in virginia, actually kind of underperformed what the potential was there, given all of the kind of dynamics going on in northern virginia. And so, you know, there are a lot of Democratic Candidates out there who are probably looking at the map and saying, you know, we can probably overperform hillary clinton. And if republicans perform like ed gillespie, who was actually a pretty good candidate for the state of virginia, and if you have another candidate in another state they are a pretty good candidate for the state, you might be able to edge them out and thats a real possibility in places where after last year democrats were holding their hands, saying what happened here . There was a lot of underperforming from the democratic side. And not necessarily overperforming from trump in some of these swing district swing states. Democrats are also breathing a sigh of relief that the culture war didnt work for ed gillespie. That he tried to turn this into a campaign about the kinds of issues that trump talks about instead of his more natural bailiwick of Economic Development and so on. Things he talked about in the primary and almost lost. This became a campaign that was about ms13 and confederate statues and nfl players taking a knee and felons being allowed to vote. And i think there was a lot of worry on the democratic side that that as despicable as they found that, that it would be effective. That it would have this galvanizing effect on the electorate, and they would come out to vote and they would overcome whatever edge the democrats had. Instead, the opposite happened. You had, according to the exit polls, a large amount of voters coming out specifically to send a message to the president. That helped the democrats. And then you had a lot of people voting on issues like health care, which is an issue that trump had said were not going to own it, right . People just still blame the democrats and think its obamacare thats a disaster. This is a sign that republicans are starting to own that issue and its not a good thing. It was not a big battle between ed gillespie but for virginia voters. I just want to put these numbers up. Since donald trump came down that escalator and ran for president , forget the rules, right . He wasnt supposed to win the republican primary, wasnt supposed to get Christian Conservative votes, no way he could beat hillary clinton. But he did that. Look at this. This is a normal election. If the president has bad polling numbers, the other part does well. This is the president s Approval Rating. At his inauguration, 44 . Low to begin with. Now 36 . Heres the part i wonder if democrats can take advantage of. Look at the drop among nonwhite college graduates. This was a big part of the trump base. If you look at the president s drop, he had a 59 Approval Rating when he took office. That is down now to 46 . Still one of the president s stronger groups, but that was a big part of the trump base. You can see democrats winning house seats in the suburbs. If theyre going to get to the magic number they need to turn the house, they have to win some midwest seats, some seats in places that President Trump did quite well. So turnout has been this persistent question for the democrats, right . Which is can democrats turn out voters with establishment, mainstream, quasi centrist candidates, or does it need to be kind of a more progressive, edgier, on the edge of the democratic party. And what you saw in virginia with ralph northum, who is not a particularly dynamic candidate, kind of a goofy candidate, right . But sort of establishment, you can be an independent voter or a conservative democrat or maybe a republican and vote for him anyway if you wanted to send a signal. Potentially what you see in alabama with their nominee there, law and order, Law Enforcement background. These are establishment doctors, lawyers. These are establishment jobs, right . If democrats are motivated to turn out just to turn out, and swing voters can be turned out for republicans, maybe its a different model, at least in these senate and congressional races, than works in a president ial come naturing context. One thing the democrats breathe a deep sigh of had he levy, they had a contested primary and there was worry. They have a lot of candidates. There are going to be a lot of democratic primaries. Some worry about that. Nancy pelosi thinks its a good thing. Yeah, turns out sometimes that conflict can be galvanizing. I was struck when you were at the board and you went back to the 2014 senate race and said it was a different environment. It was also a different Republican Party. This was a party that had not quite decided it wanted to go to a White Working Class as and sort of recognize that is its base. Well, its an important part of the base. But another important part of the Republican Base since the reagan era has been white collegeeducated suburbenites. This tuesday showed they are at real risk of losing them for a long time. Yeah, and the 80s and 90s, the republican strength in the suburbs is why they were so strong. Changed everything in america. Now you see the suburbs turning more and more blue. The loudoun county, fauquier county. They stunned me in the sense democrats are coming to play and turned on the president. Next, republicans say the election is proof they need to pass tax cuts, and fast. But its complicated. Plaque psoriasis is not always easy. Its a longdistance run. 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Republican leaders hope that big loss will give them focus to deliver a big win. Meaning they hope the message key lawmakers take from tuesdays election route they will get punished even more next year if they dont pass tax cuts in the remaining weeks of this year. We have a promise to keep. And weve got to get on with keeping our promise. And one of the chief promises we made when we ran for office, all of us, whether its the president or congress in 2016, was that we would do tax reform and tax cuts for families, for people. If anything, this just puts more pressure on making sure we follow through. Now, you did see a jolt to act this past week. The Key House Committee on tax matters passed its version. Senate republicans unveiled their plan. The house slashes corporate taxes immediately. The senate has a one year phase in. Ends medical expenses and student loans. The house reduces to 10,000 max the amount of state and local taxes you can deduct from your federal tax burden. The senate fully repeals those state and local tax deductions. Most families would see a tax cut. Most. Not all. The business side is terrific. But there are some taxpayers who are losing exemptions, particularly in some hightax states like new york or california, that could conceivably be paying higher taxes. I think that is a mistake. I think tax reform needs to cut taxes for everybody. Senator cruz there just one example of republicans who say im glad were doing this, but i dont like where we are right now. Can they get to a place where, remember the obamacare debate, they can only lose two in the senate and they have some issues in the house, as well. Can they get to the finish line here . They may be able to, but maybe not before christmas. Im hearing a lot of pushback on this idea that this is going to magically get done in december before everybody goes away, just because theres a will from the administration and maybe from congressional leaders to do it. And ive also heard that that a lot of republicans are really worried about the pr rollout for this bill. It is a disaster. I mean, you have republicans out there saying some people are going to pay more taxes. That is not the way that you sell a tax bill. Especially not one that will increase the deficit, no matter which way you slice it. So you cant go out there and say, oh, businesses are going to be really happy. Our donors are really pushing us to do this. But some middle class families, you might pay more in taxes. There are a lot of People Holding their hands in washington right now saying, if you guys actually want to get this done, you need to tighten up the ship in how you sell this to the american people. This is the problem with the time line, also. Because the longer that the legislation, and right now its two separate and sometimes the longer this is out, the more kind of sunshine gets put on this. And for middle class families, the pitch has been youre going to get 1100 back. But thats in the opening years of this. In the out years, the projections do show that for some middle class and upper middle class income groups, your taxes may actually go up. Theres also offsets, and right now in some of the you know, depending on the house and senate bill, some versions of the legislation, your ability to deduct things like Student Expenses or medical expenses go away. So you get the money up front, the debt in the longterm. And the inability to write off things that youve been able to write off before. So but the politicians say theyll come back in five years and fix that. You dont trust them . I think this is problematic. Its problematic for President Trump, who has promised to be looking out for the little guy. Its problematic for a lot of the coastal republicans who are in states where people will be disproportionately impacted by this. And so when your margins are this tight, and when the reason for doing it is ostensibly not just to spike, you know, the gdp by helping companies, but to actually give tangible relief to people, if most say, yeah, ill take the cash now and pay more later. Its complicated. But going back to that interview with paul ryan, and with all due respect to the speaker, were was this kind of tax relief or this kind of tax reform really what voters picked in november of 2016 . Or were they actually voting for making America Great again, for some kind of big infrastructure . For a building a wall . I mean, this is the kind of proposal that maybe you can get through at the end of a first year after youve had a lot of successes previously for some of these bigticket items that the president ran on. But now this just limping across the finish line, theres just no political will, and except in the sense of weve got to get something to pass. And there is a lot of political will for that. Republicans really do see this as do or die to do something. So paul ryan is exactly right about that. But the republicans arent in a on the one hand, you have to be willing to upset people. You have to be willing to gore some sacred cows or whatever. But this isnt a big thing. They have dialed it back so far that its this incremental bill that doesnt simplify the tax system in a big way. And yet its also tough for them. And if they cant get it done by the end of this year, choices get harder in the actual election year. Sit tight, everybody. Our reporters share their notebooks next, including a new emerging aalliance between the president s chief of staff and his attorney general. Nahelps protect eyesin blue from damaging blue light, filtering it out to help you continue enjoying your screens. Or. You could just put your phones down and talk to each other. [laughing] natures bounty lutein blue. Because youre better off healthy. Were on a mission to show drip coffee drinkers, its time to wake up to keurig. Wakey wakey rise and shine oh my gosh how are you . Well watch this. I pop that in there. Press brew. Thats it. Look how much coffees in here . Fresh coffee. So rich. I love it. Thats why you should be a keurig man fullbodied. Are you sure youre describing the coffee and not me . Do you wear this every day . Everyday. Id never take it off. Are you ready to say goodbye to it . Go go ta da a terrarium. Thats it. We brewed the love, right guys . all yes. Allow you to take advantage of growth opportunities. We brewed the love, right guys . With a level of protection in down markets. So you can head into retirement with confidence. Brighthouse financial established by metlife. Pepsoriasis does that. It was tough getting out there on stage. I wanted to be clear. I wanted it to last. So i kept on fighting. I found something that worked. And keeps on working. Now . They see me. See me. See if cosentyx could make a difference for you cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Find clear skin that can last. Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Never give up. See me. See me. Clear skin can last. Dont hold back. Ask your dermatologist if cosentyx can help you find clear skin that lasts. Im a substation electrician my nwith pg e. Ck varela. When i was 17 years old, signed up for the United States army and i started serving and i now get to serve the customers of pg e. I get to help other families. And thats what its all about. When i came back from iraq, couldnt find work. Then i found pg es power pathway program. Here at pg e im Successful Living in eureka with our two beautiful kids with a brand new career all because of the power pathway program. If you are a veteran, go to pge. Com powerpathway and hopefully your life will change like mine did. Together, were building a better california. Lets close by heading around the inside politics table. Help you get ahead of the big political news around the corner. Abby phillip . This week we learned Something Interesting about white house chief of staff, john kelly. He made some calls from asia on the president s trip to the acting department of Homeland Security secretary, elaine duke, be on the issue of protective status for hondurans. And he pushed her to make a decision to expel, you know, a large group of hondurans who have been in the country for about two decades. Whats interesting about this is kelly often stays on the margins of Big Decisions like this. And this was one of those key moments where he didnt just moderate the debate. He was involved in it. And in some meetings at the white house in the last couple of weeks. So another big opponent of keeping hondurans in the United States under this status was attorney general jeff sessions. So those two men are in some ways on the same page about some key immigrationrelated issues, and it will be interesting to see how much further that kind of potential Alliance Goes between jeff sessions, john kelly, especially when it comes to immigration. We know kelly is putting his former deputy over dhs if she is confirmed. Another key level of power for him. Evolution for the chief. Molly . Will mike flynn be indicted . And if not, why not . We have known for a while that the Mueller Investigation has been looking at the former National Security adviser. And gathering evidence. And since the Manafort Indictment two weeks ago, a lot of people are wondering if hes the next domino to fall. And it was reported this week that they do have enough evidence to indict him if they wanted to. If he doesnt get indicted that, raises the possibility there is cooperation going on with investigators, which could definitely scare the white house as the investigation threatens to move closer to the president s inner circle. Michael . Weve been talking about tax reform now for days, weeks. A small change, but i think a big and significant sort of political change to the house tax bill was the restoration testing, 1, 23 a lot of pro life groups were sort of up in arms about when the republicans took that out. I asked the white house what kind of role did the white house have, did they have a view on this tax credit. Did they push house tax writers to keep it back in. They said what i was told was, we encouraged this idea of keeping this in. It sort of shows you what the white house has been doing behind the scenes. Not publicly, you know, making their views known on the details of tax reform, but instead sort of urging quietly or if somebody brings up an idea they support, just saying, yeah, that sounds good to us. It will be interesting to see how that changes once President Trump is back in the United States, and is a little more directly engaged in these tax reform talks as we go to the next week. Watching the calendar. Margaret . Jim comey is back, although he was never really gone. But in the next week, im certainly going to be watching his twitter feed. Hes out now tweeting himself, instead of this alias of the theologian he was hiding behind for all these months. But we saw him emerge over the weekend, of course, when President Trump suggested that, you know, comey and clapper, soandso, were hacks. Comey tweeting another philosopher, religious philosopher, when he says, if you want truth to go around the world, you have to have an express train to pull it. And if you want a lie to go around the world, it will fly because its as light as a feather. So hes about a week into his official twitter feed now. Keep watching for more. Shakespeare comey on twitter. Im close with this. Both Political Parties fired up their maps after tuesdays big election and both see obvious improved democratic odds of retaking the house in 2018. Most of us, of course, dont have access to that software. Heres a good way to keep score at home. Pollsters ask, if the election were today, would you vote democratic for republican for congress. Republicans expect to stay on the losing side of that question throughout the next year, because congress is unpopular and because its President Trumps first midterm election. It is the margin that matters. If the National Lead for democrats is in Single Digits next october, most republican strategists think theyll lose seats but keep the house majority. If they are in low double digits, then the majority is at clear risk. Most strategists view 15 as the magic number, meaning if the democratic edge hits 15 points, any remaining speaker ryan statione stationery becomes a collectors item. Our poll this week had it democrats plus 12. Thats the danger zone for the gop which tells you all you need to know about Nancy Pelosis smile and paul ryans tax cut urgency. Thanks for sharing your sunday. Up next, the former director of National Intelligence and former cia director on cnns state of the union. Have a great sunday. I am totally blind. And non24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442142424. I trained as hard as i could to stay alive. I have more than 30 pieces of shrapnel still in my leg. But i still push myself to the limit. If it werent for my tempurpedic, i wouldnt be able to sleep on my left side at all. The tempurpedic veterans day Savings Event is here, and now is the time to take advantage of this incredible offer. 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Two of the men he called out, James Clapper and john brennan, are here to respond, exclusively, next. Plus, dueling plans. Republicans in the house and senate try to come to an agreement on taxes. Were not