Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Americas Newsroom With Bill Hemmer And Sandra Smith 20171214

President trump touting the plan at the white house yesterday as a pure benefit to the middle class. President trump we will never let bad things happen with respect to the economy of our country. Were reclaiming our destiny as americans, a nation that thinks big, dreams bigger, and always reaches for the stars. We didnt become great through massive taxation and washington regulation. And thats who we are, a nation of striveers and builders and dreamers and doers, people who treasure their independence and dont know how to quit. Our tax cuts will break down and they will break it down fast, all forms of government, and all forms of government barriers and breathe new life into the american economy. They will unleash the american worker, they will tear down the restraints on discovery, innovation and creation, and they will restore the hopes and dreams of the american family. Sandra kevin corke is live at the white house for us this morning. How is the white house answering critics who suggest this tax bill will primarily benefit the wealthy . Well listen, a couple ways. I love hearing you talk business. I know youre into it based on your background. You are talking salt and stuff like that, not talking about too much in my diet. Theyre answering, were talking about arguing against this idea if you pay taxes somehow you shouldnt benefit from a tax cut as opposed to folks who pay no taxes. I think the broader argument is this argument against this narrative that its the rich fat cats against the common man. Thats a dishonest and false narrative. The president taking to twitter this morning talking about it once again saying republican tax cuts are looking very good. All are working hard. In the meantime the stock market hit another record high. While that is true and if you have a 401k it can be great news the white house is insistent the purpose of the tax bill is to put more money into the pockets of everyday americans. President trump now were just days away, i hope i hope, you know what that means, right . From keeping that promise and delivering a truly amazing victory for American Families. We want to give you the American People a giant tax cut for christmas. And when i say giant, i mean giant. We think now it should be reported out today which would give both the house and senate a chance to vote on monday and tuesday of next week. Thats when it would be over. It sounds like theyve made a great deal of progress in the last 24, 48 hours and were close to a finished deal. Mick mulvaney earlier this morning. A lot to be done in terms of legislative language but plenty happening at the white house coming next week and they expect the president to try to sign something by christmas. Sandra these are not calm days leading up to christmas, thats for sure. Conflicting reports about the departure of a key white house staffer yesterday. What can you tell us about omarosas exit from the trump team . Well, okay, first of all it was expected in a lot of ways. A number of people felt she would go her own way at the beginning of the year anyway. That said there was word of an ugly Heated Exchange with the chief of staff john kelly that ended with her attempting to speak to the president himself in the residence of the white house and being escorted off the grounds by secret service. Here is her explanation. The assertion i would do that in front of 600 guests at a Christmas Party and no one has reported that except for one individual who has a personal vendetta against me. So i have to tell you completely false, unverified reporting and john kelly and i had a very straight forward discussion about concerns that i had, issues that i raised and as a result i resigned and it will be taking place january 20th when i leave the very interesting administration. She said that on gma. She was referring to april ryan that used to be very Close Friends and now she has a personal vendetta against her, i guess you could argue they arent friends anymore. Sandra okay, kevin corke, thank you. Bill probably safe, right . For more on the tax deal ohio congressman jim jordan. Thank you for coming back here. I have a lot to go through, are you ready . Will the tax deal pass . Yes, yes, next tuesday. Good deal. Bill next tuesday. That means you are a yes vote. Yes. The bill cuts taxes, simplifies the code and i do believe it is conducive to promoting more Economic Growth than were already getting. The expanded growth were already getting under President Trump. Those are the three key principles weve always had and i think theyll happen. Bill no issues from the freedom caucus. We all voted for it when it passed the house a few weeks ago. Well vote for us, almost all our guys will be voting for it next week. Bill i know youre on the house side. Do you think there will be friction on the senate side . You never know. Corker, collins or mccain going to stop it . You never know. We hope not. I think the momentum what the president had to say is on target building to a good bill to help American Families and grow our economy. You never know with the senate. Bill Rod Rosenstein you left have it. Peter strzok was in your cross hairs when this exchange happened. This guy thought he was super agent james bond at the f. B. I. This is unbelievable. Im here to tell you i think the public trust in this whole thing is gone. You can disband the mueller special prosecutor and do what we called for. Appoint the Second Special counsel to look into this. Bill what did you get out of that hearing, sir . That needs to happen, bill. You think about peter strzok and what we learned from that text message yesterday saying we cant take that risk. We cant take the risk of donald trump being elected president and so we have an insurance policy. That shows intent to put together a plan to somehow stop what the American People wanted to happen, which is donald trump be the next president. That is scary from the guy head of Counter Intelligence at the f. B. I. From the guy who was the guy he ran the clinton investigation and the russian investigation. He interviewed clinton. He is the guy who changed the term gross negligence, a crime, to extreme carelessness, not a crime in that exoneration letter that comey unveiled about secretary clinton. That guy was planning to do something. Bill i know you are chipping away at this. He defended Robert Mueller for five hours. So your suggestion to get a special counsel to investigate the f. B. I. Does not look likely. Each day we learn more and more. Bruce ohr, top official at the Justice Department, is meeting during the campaign, meeting with the guy who wrote the dossier, the disproven, discredited fake news dossier. Bruce ohr is meeting with Christopher Steele during the campaign and meeting just after the campaign with glen simpson, the founder of fusion gps. A top option at the Justice Department meeting with the guy who wrote the dossier and meeting with people who paid for the dossier. You cant make this up. Bruce ohrs wife is working for fusion and hired expressly to work on the russian dossier project. If that doesnt Say Something is wrong here and you need a special counsel. While were waiting for them to do side to do a special counsel. We neat bruce ohr and peter strzok and Andrew Mccabe with the Judiciary Committee answering questions. The chairman understands it needs to happen. Subpoena them. Get the documents, depose them and put them where Rod Rosenstein was sitting yesterday and ask them the same kind of questions. Bill he says the Inspector General will conduct a thorough review. I take it thats not good enough for you. I like mr. Horowitz. We met with him a week and a half ago. He is doing a review. That wont be ready until february or march of next year. Sir, he has uncovered some good information and Important Information but they cant hide behind the fact the Inspector General is doing an investigation so we arent going to answer your questions or give you the documents or make available people for depositions and for hearings. They cant hide behind that fact. Two investigations can go on at the same time. Congress can do their investigation and mr. Horowitz. Nothing wrong with that and thats what were asking for. Bill you asked him to disband muellers team. That strikes me at the moment as a step too far. How do you change that, if you do at all . Thats the first time i called for it. Frankly, i thought everything was pointing to all kinds of mischief taking place at the f. B. I. During 2016. After that text message that i saw from peter strzok to lisa page yesterday, thats what convinced me. There are two fundamental questions, did the f. B. I. Pay Christopher Steele, the author of the dossier . And did they take that dossier, dress it up and take it to the fisa court to get warrants to spy on americans . If the answer to those two questions is yes, i think it is, then this discredits everything. No need for the special counsel. Whats needed is that Second Special counsel weve called for. Bill thank you for your time. Jim jordan. Thank you, five hours of hearing yesterday, recapping it today. Thank you, sir. The republican from ohio there. It was heated at times. A lot of sides made a lot of different points for a long time. Sandra youve heard jim jordan ask those questions before and you get the sense he wont stop until he gets those answers. Confident about the tax bill passing, isnt he . We have much more on the claims of political bias inside the special counsel investigation coming up later this hour with former arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. Plus theres this. The president keeps talking like he is helping the middle class but his policy after policy helps the wealthy and the powerful and hurts the middle class. Bill democrats and republicans are going at it whether or not the tax deal helps the middle class. Later this hour well talk to tom perez dnc chair and he will be here live to address that and more. Sandra roy moore refusing to concede to doug jones. Why he says he is not ready to throw in the towel. This as republicans in washington say they are now focusing on getting their jobs done. It is all about getting things done. If we do not get things done, we dont have to worry about an election in alabama, we have to worry about our own elections back home. If yor crohns symptoms are holding you back, and your Current Treatment hasnt worked well enough, it may be time for a change. Ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohns. 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Were learning reports of two Police Officers shot overnight near st. Louis. The suspect who opened fire is now barricaded inside of a home were told. There are reports both wounded officers were wearing bulletproof vest and that may have saved their life. They only suffered minor injuries. Well keep you posted as this incident develops. In this race we have not received the final count to include military and provisional ballots. This has been a very close race and were awaiting certification by he the secretary of state. That fiveminute message online refusing to concede the race in alabama. For now the Democrat Doug Jones appears headed to washington, d. C. Bring in our panel now, former advisor to president Clinton Doug Schoen and charlie hurt from the washington times. You saw the video message. What do you the case is he is going to wait for military ballots to come in to get him within. 5 points and then you have a recount. Go ahead. I get that. I think it will be fairly unlikely that all that happens but i think it does reveal he is a very defiant guy. And i think that reveals exactly why he has done he appeals to a lot of people in alabama. Alabama voters had to sit here and watch the National Establishment of both parties. They had to watch the National Media come in and, you know, kind of take over this whole election which really annoys people and why donald trump so handily won that state in last years election. Bill hard to give up, you know, when you put your lifeblood into it. What happens . Look, it is hard to give up and ive had plenty of candidates who have not wanted to. This was almost a 20,000 vote or more plurality for doug jones. Donald trump, the president , has graciously congratulated doug jones and i think its best to recognize reality and recognize roy moores faults and weaknesses and foibles and move on to a democratic senator. Bill speaking of that, doug, a tweet from the come yarder and chief. It proved we need to put up great republican candidates to increase the razorthin margins in the house and senate that you refer 5149 if it turns out that way in january. Charlie, the conventional wisdom that seemed to gather throughout the day yesterday from Republican Leaders are we dodged a bullet with roy moore. Now, is that true or is that spin . I think its absolutely true. This what we saw here i think over the last couple of weeks was an effort, the early effort of democrats to sort of create a whole new war on this whole republican war on women front where they could campaign on that issue. Now, i would argue that has not worked very well for them but still its a Nasty Campaign and very painful for a lot of republicans. It got blown out of the water because they dont have roy moore. They wanted to take roy moore and make him the face of every republican candidate running. Well, it turns out that even republicans, many republicans in alabama rejected this guy for the very reasons that the Democratic Party wanted to hang him on republicans. I have think i dont think its spin i think its the real thing. Bill did they dodge a bullet or not . I think this was a classic lose lose situation for the republicans. Clearly with roy moore losing they lose the seat. Charlie is right, roy moore, if he had won, would have also been a loss because that would have been the focus of the 2018 campaign. Right now the president was gracious. He is going to have a more narrow majority as you suggested. They do need better candidates but they also should recognize that now both the senate and house are in play in 2018 in ways that probably wasnt the case before tuesday. Bill that will make an interesting year. You guys make your reservations for right here. Doug schoen, charlie hurt. Nice to see you. Sandra a few moments away were awaiting Market Reaction after republicans clear one of the final hurdles on tax reform. Well take a look at what this potential deal will mean for your money, your family, and your bottom line. Bill emotional moment. Former Vice President joe biden concealing mccain about her fathers battle with cancer. The latest on how senator mccain is doing today. One of the things that gave bo insisted on, your dad will insist on, you have to maintain hope. There is hope. Hope you have to have hope. I had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. Metastatic and it spread to my bones. Time is very important when time is running out. I was looking for answers. A friend of mine suggested Cancer Treatment centers of america. I serve in the General Assembly for the state of arkansas. We Work Together across the aisle to get things done. And thats the way it is at ctca. What fred needed was a management team. Not just to have a longterm strategy for quantity of life, but also an active strategy for quality of life. The plan was to put together an aggressive regimen. The goal there is to slow the growth of the tumor, take away tumor related symptoms and prolong life. And lower the psa. My psa is under control. Ctca gave me an opportunity to accomplish my goals and my dreams. Learn more at cancercenter. Com Cancer Treatment centers of america. Appointments available now. Up 30 , 40 , 50 depending whats in there and theyre very, very happy. We think well grow that a lot more. We really think the economy has a long way to grow and it needs the tax cut desperately. All that money will be spent on expanding businesses. Sandra President Trump reacting to the news that gop negotiators had struck a deal on taxes and hoping to pass the final legislation next week. The president tweeting this morning quote, republican tax cuts are looking very good. All are working hard. In the meantime, the stock market hit another record high. Lets bring in Charles Payne from the fox business network. Thats fact, charles. We dug up the numbers this morning. 85th record close for the dow since he was elected president. Right. Its the numbers we dont talk about that i look at all the time that are impressing me. Small Business Confidence through the roof. Businesses are investing again. Some of the underpinning of this economy are phenomenal. Sandra when you look at the stock market. Profits are there to back it up or is this all in anticipation of the tax plan . There is concern what happens, what if they stumble here at the end of the year. Two things that were happening late in 2015 and 2016, top line revenues for companies were actually going down and earnings actually yearoveryear were going down. Both are going up. You have demand at the top comes from the Grassroots Level and rerntion starting to soar. Sandra what about the argument its great for businesses. What about the individuals . This there are Christmas Parties happening all over the country now. I dont know what it means for me. Yesterday when President Trump had his final push with those families it was remarkable. You have real people talking about how it would impact them. Number crunchers have said 2,000 a year. People have told me it could be as much as 4,000 a year. I wanted it to be more, i really did. I which we could have done 24 for corporations, maybe 5 repatriation and more for the middle class. It could have been a little bit more. Be that as it may lets not sneer at the fact that 2,000 in the average family is america is amazing particularly at christmastime. There are families out there struggling that have 200 in gifts on layaway and dont know how they can get it for their kids in time for christmas. I dont want to look down my nose at that and say listen. You have a big body of people with a bunch of different opinions in congress. We rarely get anything done. This is a victory that we all should applaud and embrace. Sandra why isnt it more popular then . Why is the president having to sell it so hard . I wish he would have sold it like he did yesterday. I wish we would have heard more from regular folks who had a chance to look at this and say it will help me rather than a whole bunch of people who always spin on both sides. Sandra lets talk about new york, california, some of those hightax jurisdictions who are afraid theyll get hit hard. Salt is a big issue. State and local taxes is a compromise up to 10,000 in property and or your state income taxes. So thats the form of a compromise. Theyre saying lower middle class folks will still get the breaks. Upper income folks wont get the break. Mortgage Interest Deduction theyve taken the limit to 750,000. If your mortgage is 750,000 or less you can take that. For the average family i think these compromises go a long way to make sure their taxes go down. Folks on the salt side in wealthier states will see an increase sandra weve seen a stock market going up for the gop getting this tax reform done by the end of the year. You see record after record after record. I wont ask the question what if it doesnt get done. Can this stock market keep going higher if it does get done . Absolutely. Estimates for next year 11 Earnings Growth over 5 on the top line revenue growth. I think the stock market will continue to go higher. I dont think its expense its more expensive than historically but were at the the economy is moving. I wish people knew all the data beneath the surface and how its bubbling. What they call soft data and hard data. The soft data are the surveys. The Small Business went through the roof after the election. Now its coming to fruition. Sandra optimistic and bullish Charles Payne on set this morning. People should be excited. It is not perfect but it will help the average family. Sandra a nice christmas present. Bill more on the tax deal in a moment and what it might mean for you and the economy. John thune is our guest live. The center of all these negotiations. Well talk to him about the inside story coming up. They try to undermine the public faith in the u. S. Democratic process, is that correct . I believe thats correct. I believe no one in the United States has done more to undermine the belief in the United States democratic process than the democrats. The doj and f. B. I. Under fire over accusations of political bias inside the special counsel investigation. Is that the case . Former governor Mike Huckabee will answer it next. Ive tried lots of things for my joint pain. Now . Watch me. Think id give up showing these guys how its done . Please. Real people with active Psoriatic Arthritis are changing the way they fight it. Theyre moving forward with cosentyx®. Its a different kind of targeted biologic. Its proven to help people find less joint pain and clearer skin. Dont use if you are 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 of an infection. 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. With less joint pain, watch me. For less joint pain and clearer skin, ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. Bill all right, fox news alert right now. A major merger announcement involving our Parent Company 21st century fox. Disney announcing this morning a 54 billion deal to acquire the majority of foxs entertainment assets including fox movie studios and the fx cable networks. 21st century fox chairman Rupert Murdoch said were proud of all we have built at 21st century fox and i firmly believe this combination with disney will unlock even more value for shareholders as the new disney continues to set the pace on what is an exciting and dynamic industry. To be clear, fox news, fox business, fox broadcasting, they are not part of this deal. They will remain together as a company for which we will continue to work. Sandra two iconic media companies. Bill what do you think . Sandra making a charge. A dynamic landscape. One of chairman murdochs promises has been to provide the most choices for customers as he wrote, provide great storytelling, news, challenging opinion and compelling sports. Its a big deal. Bill echo on that i think were in the beginning of a media revolution and my feeling is that were at the very beginning stages of it because there are much bigger players out there. You think about apple and facebook and amazon and netflix and what their future plans are to bring you news and sports and entertainment. That landscape is changing as we speak. They will gobble each other up at some point. The question is when. Thats our news today. Sandra okay. Republicans on capitol hill grilling Deputy Attorney general Rob Rosenstein of muellers investigation. Its been revealed two f. B. I. Officials working within the Mueller Probe, strzok and page had exchanged a number of antiText Messages during the 2016 campaign. In all more than 10,000 Text Messages were handed over to a Justice Department Watchdog Group with one discussing how to protect the country from that menace. In a reference to President Trump. These Text Messages prove what we all suspected, high ranking f. B. I. Officials involved in the clinton investigation were personally invested in the outcome of the election. This is not just political opinions, this is disgusting, unaccountable bias. And there is no way that could not affect a persons work. It is clear to me after listening to three hours of questioning that none of this is about Text Messages. Nor is there anything wrong with f. B. I. Agents expressing their private political views via private text message. Not a single american he can imagine would vote for donald trump. This is the conflict of interest free special agent assigned and then he went on to belittle Trump Supporters by saying he could smell them at a walmart in virginia. I agree the Text Messages raise concern. I will withhold my judgment until the investigation is completed. Sandra joining us now for more, former arkansas governor and Fox News Contributor Mike Huckabee is here. Love the christmas tie. Good to see you. Thank you very much. I understand mr. Murdoch always wanted a mickey mouse outfit. He has merged 21st century fox with disney. Everybody gets what they want for christmas. Sandra all right. Governor, this is a big deal yesterday and there were certain heated moments where the Deputy Attorney general rosenstein who oversees the Mueller Probe was put in the hot seat and had to defend the integrity of not only that investigation but the f. B. I. And the doj. How did he do . I think he did very poorly because he didnt really answer the questions. Now, he can hide behind the fact were still investigating, fine. At some point we have to turn the lights on here and the lights so far dont look real good for the Justice Department and when you first of all have a couple of people who signed up to be on the Mueller Investigation who were lovers. You wonder about the interoffice policy about that kind of thing. Secondly, who has time to exchange 10,000 texts . And they werent simple political opinions. These were texts that went into great detail speaking of the president in the most incredibly vile, vulgar way and talking about how they want to make sure there is an Insurance Plan to see that he doesnt get elected. Sandra, this is way beyond a political opinion. This is an intent to stage what essentially amounts to a coup of the highest elected office. Sandra the most notable message that was august 15, 2016 from strzok himself. I want to believe the pack you through out in andys office there is no way trump gets elected. Im afraid we cant take that risk. He said possibly referring to as we have concluded the then deputy f. B. I. Director Andrew Mccabe. Its like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before youre 40. First of all, lets be clear. When he is talking about andy, Andrew Mccabe whose wife got 700,000 for her Democratic Political office bid from terry mccaul i have. Bruce ohr high Level Department of justice official who was involved in some of these investigations whose wife worked for gps fusion, funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the dnc who created the false dossier on donald trump which supposedly was the basis for doing surveillance which ultimately led to mike flynns indictment. Look, this stuff smells worse than a feed lot at a hog farm. And how anybody can sit there with a straight face during that hearing and say well, we dont see anything here that looks all that nefarious, sandra, its bizarre. Our country really has to have belief and confidence in our Justice Department. I do believe that overwhelmingly the rank and file men and women of the f. B. I. Are people of integrity but at the top, the old saying is a fish rots from the head down. There is something rotten at the head of this fish. Sandra whats amazing is that he is still employed there. He is in the Human Resources department. I look at some of the other words that he exchanges. He called the president an idiot, loathsome human. He hasnt been removed from working there. Not just his contempt for the president but the people who pay his salary. You played that clip a moment ago that trey gowdy alluded to. How he could smell the trump voters when they were at a walmart. What kind of contempt do you have for voters, for taxpayers that you are supposed to be serving . And thats not serving them. Thats holding them in contempt and looking at them with a view of a snob. Thats not what were paying people to do. Can they have their own opinions . Yes. This is a workrelated text with another employee on a government phone and how people can get away with that i have no idea. I dont think most of us in the private sector can get away with that if we did those kind of things and said those kind of things on a companyrelated device. Sandra he was removed from that probe immediately following the revelation of those texts but it was not made clear to the American People and taxpayers that this was what was going on. Thats why he was demoted to another department. But governor, unbelievable revelations there. Thank you for coming on and good to see you. Thank you, Merry Christmas to you, sandra. Bill Vice President joe biden appearing on the view where he comforted Meghan Mccain over her fathers cancer. Your son, bo, had the same cancer that my father was diagnosed with six months ago. There is a lot of hope there. I think about bo almost every day and i was told sorry, that this doesnt get easier. Your dad, when he worked with me and became friends with bo and bo talked about your dads courage, not about illness, but about his courage. The thing that i found was and bo insisted on, your dad will insist on, you have to maintain hope. Bill tender moment on live television. John mccain responded. Thank you joe biden for serving as an example and source of strength for my own family. Senator mccain undergoing treatment at walter reed in washington expected to return to the senate for the tax vote. He has been there for a couple of days. I dont want to say anything is standard procedure when it comes to cancer but this is one of the effects of having it. Best of luck, get healthy. Sandra as everyone with a Family Member suffering from cancer or who has the whole family goes through it together. My former colleague Meghan Mccain, i know her well. Its a difficult time. All right. Meanwhile President Trump looking to push the gop tax plan over the finish line promising big things for all americans but not everyone agrees. Dnc chairman tom perez is here to react live next. President trump were just days away, i hope i hope. You know what that means, right . From keeping that promise and delivering a truly amazing victory for American Families. T. 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Bill 30 minutes ago jim jordan telling us the tax plan will pass on tuesday of next week and President Trump delivering his Closing Argument yesterday featuring several middle class families who sang the praises of this deal. But there is resistance. With me now the dnc chair tom perez. Good morning to you and thank you. Happy holidays. Thank you to you and Merry Christmas, whatever applies in your life. Why cant democrats get behind this tax plan . Its a massive tax break bill for large corporations and for uber wealthy people. Look at alabama. About 150,000 kids who are not sure if they will be able to stay on Childrens Health Insurance Program and the repeal of the estate tax will help Something Like 40 uber wealthy families in alabama. I would rather help the 150,000 children who need to get access to Childrens Health insurance. There are so many millions of middle class families that will pay more. I thought the Republican Party was the party of fiscal responsibility. This is blowing a major league hole in our budget and you will start seeing medicare cuts as early as next year. Its dire. Bill why wake up tomorrow based on that forecast . Here is what republicans argue, speaker ryan and kevin brady, if they were sitting here they would say average middle class household about 84,000 a year in income family of four tax cut of 2,000 and insist you can look at countless studies that show average wage increase up by 4,000. I bet your supporters would be in favor of a lot of that. You know what . You are entitled to your own opinions. You look at the nonpartisan umpires looking at this bill and one after the other say that its just there are so many middle class families that will pay more in taxes. If youre trying to take one of your kids and get them into college, Higher Education has become less affordable for you. If youre trying to purchase a home, it will be harder. 13 Million People are going to lose their healthcare because of this bill so that we can provide permanent tax cuts for corporations. That doesnt make sense. Thats why 1 trillion hole in the budget. Bill stay in bed tomorrow. Will any democrat vote for it . I doubt it because again, this process has been horrific. And you look at the polling on this. The American People are seeing through this. George w. Bush said you know what . You give tax cuts to the wealthy and benefits will trickle down. David stockman back in the 80s, one of the original supply siders said the same thing. It is a fooled you once, shame on you and fool you twice, shame on you moment. Bill on the alabama election, on which issue will doug jones work with the white house and President Trump . Well, doug jones wants to build alabama where it will work for everyone. People who work a fulltime job can live a stressfree life and wants to invest in job training and make sure people have access to healthcare. He wants to make sure that children can get that Health Insurance that they so desperately need. We need to raise the minimum wage because there are too many bill apparently the president invited him to come to the oval office. On which issue will he say sign me up. Im a democrat from the deep south and im a yes vote on fill in your issue, sir. Fair wages for folks. He wants to expand healthcare. He wants to make sure the Childrens Health Insurance Program is extended. That was a program again i was working in the u. S. Senate at the time as a staffer. That was orrin hatch and senator kennedy. Always bipartisan. Im sure doug will come in and say to the president why cant we reauthorize this . We just gave a tax cut to corporations and very wealthy people and we cant afford to extend the Childrens Health Insurance Program . Im sure that will be one of dougs first issues. Bill there are several democratic members of congress who say you need new leadership. Nancy pelosi, chuck schumer, time for a new day. Are you satisfied with their leadership . Were making real progress. Look at the 2017 elections here, bill. Democrats not only in alabama but in virginia and new jersey, mayors races, all sorts of other races. Were out there leading with our values. Weve learned from our mistakes. We have to organize everywhere. Nancy pelosi without her we wouldnt have healthcare. Bill you are satisfied with her leadership. Thats a yes. Were leading into the 2018 election cycle. I think well win the senate and house. I think we can do it. Bill i really hope you come back, okay . Im out of time but thank you for yours. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Sandra great to have him on the program. Russian president Vladimir Putin putin at an annual News Conference. Fox news was one of the reporters in the room. Details ahead. Prevagen. The name to remember. Sandra californias Housing Price is spinning out of control. Rents are sky high as are homes. People are clamoring for lawmakers to do something. Were live in los angeles this morning. Sandra, part of the problem is lawmakers state and local helped create the problem by enforcing the antigrowth policies. Today home prices are twice the national average. 70 of people cant afford to buy a home. California and san diego as well has a housing crisis. We cant provide housing to our citizens. For all its claims of being an economic paradise, california is a failure when it comes to affordable housing. The biggest tragedy of california is that weve stopped building housing for the middle income folks. Last year the cities of houston and dallas built more homes than the entire golden state. Supply and demand works. People want to be here. Were not accommodating them with new housing. So the cost of the housing goes up. Who is to blame . Current residents dont wants more traffic, environment lifts oppose growth. Seven years later new land sierra is trying to build new homes near san diego. A similar project in l. A. Battled environmental lawsuits for 20 years. The lawsuits very often are won. In Development Time is money. With homes hitting 600,000 for a starter opponents face a backlash. It stands for yes in my backyard. This mom started a group to counter those who say not in my backyard to every project. Our long term growth and prosperity is dependent upon having housing that folks can afford. Because that housing does not exist, one in 10 residents are considering leaving and two million age 25 and above already have. Sandra thank you, william. Bill we now what could be a major announcement from nikki haley in irrefutable evidence that iran is violating terms of the nuclear deal. Thats coming up. Dont move. matthew my wish was a clubhouse, but we call it the wish house. mom and it just immediately brought something positive in our life. Oh, i gotta get up get matthew on his treatment. matthew its not that bad, though. mom yeah. matthew the good thing about the surgeries is i get to have a popsicle at the end. mom he makes the best of everything and he teaches us to be strong and brave, too. vo through the subaru share the love event, weve helped grant the wishes of fifteen hundred kids so far. Get a new subaru and well donate two hundred fifty dollars more to help those in need. Put a little love in your heart. Sandra has iran been caught redhanded . The u. S. Saying it has found solid proof of missile and weapon activity breaking the iran nuclear deal. Welcome to a brandnew hour of americas newsroom, im sandra smith. Good morning. Bill are you in the Christmas Spirit . Sandra i am. Im feeling it. Bill im feeling the christmas chaos. Sandra are the christmas tunes in your head, bill . Bill 247. Good morning, u. N. Ambassador nikki haley is about to reveal proof just an hour from now that iran intentionally defied terms of that agreement. Her office stating this. She will offer evidence that iran has violated its obligations and tried and failed to cover up these violations. Sandra laura en gal has more. Theyre trying to isolate iran. A new report by the u. N. Secretary general says iran could be defying a resolution. Pieces of rockets and other equipment that reportedly show iranian involvement. The Resolution Says iran must not undertake activities of missiles that includes launches and arms transfers. It was back in november when iranian rebels in yemen fired a Ballistic Missile toward saudi arabia. That missile was believed to be supplied by iran. That is a breach of Security Council resolution 2231 passed in 2015 as the u. N. s way of giving its blessing to the iran nuclear deal. Though the resolution lifted most restrictions on the Iranian Regime it includes a weapons embargo. The trump administrations u. N. Ambassador nikki haley has said in the past that iran has violated that deal. The secretary generals report makes clear iran is in violation of the Security Council resolution 2231. And so the question becomes what is the Security Council going to do about it . We as the Security Council must stand behind the provisions of 2231. We must strictly enforce them and show iran that we will not tolerate their flaunting of u. N. Resolutions. Later this morning she holds a press conference at an air force base in washington, d. C. Where she will talk about the secretary generals report and show how irans illegal actions continue to destabilize the middle east. Haley is expected to offer evidence that iran has deliberately violated its International Obligations and tried and failed to cover up those violations. Well bring you more when we have it here. Sandra thank you for that. Laura. Bill meanwhile another big story today. Congressional republicans are nearing completion of the tax bill. Final vote could come tuesday and wednesday of next week. They continue the sales pitch to the country on the tax plan. President trump well make our tax system work for you again. Were going to make our economy work for you again. Im excited to announce that if Congress Sends me a bill before christmas, americans will see lower taxes and bigger paychecks beginning in february. Just two short months from now. This was a top priority for us heading into 2017. Providing tax relief for everyone in this country. This is a package that is pro family, pro Economic Growth. The goal was get it done by christmas all along. So we start the new year with a new tax code to get the economy growing and give families relief. Were there and happy about it. This is where we are this hour. Mike emanuel is live on the hill for the latest there. Many republicans sound hopeful theyre getting closer to fixing the tax code for the first time in more than 30 years. I feel very optimistic and confident that well have a tax package on the president s desk before christmastime. And well get a gift, a Christmas Gift to the American People. Key congressional sources here are some of the key points. 37 is the top individual rate. 21 Corporate Tax in 2018 dropped from 35 now. State and local Tax Deduction known as salt capped at 10,000. Repeal the obamacare individual mandate and maintain deduction for high outofpocket medical expenses. Some other items of note in this tax reform push Vice President mike pence is likely to slightly delay his trip to the middle east with aides noting pence has been very involved in tax reform and senator john mccain is receiving treatment at walter reed for side effects of his Cancer Treatment. Meanwhile democrats have been pressing the gop to wait until a new alabama senator is seated. The election of doug jones will not change which Party Controls the senate. The election of doug jones will not give him or democrats the power to block the tax bill or any other piece of legislation. But it will respect the people of alabama and their choice. It should happen before any more tax votes take place in the senate. On the details of the bill some very wellplaced sources say it isnt totally done until it is done. Bottom line we expect theyll roll out this gop tax reform plan tomorrow, bill. Bill thanks. Sandra joining me now for more on this is senator john thune from south dakota and chairman of the senate gop conference. A busy couple of days, a busy week for sure, senator thune. What can you tell us about the timeline as we approach the final days of the year . Right. Good morning, sandra. And thank you. We are closing in on this. We had some meetings already this morning. The final details are being hammered out and nailed down. But were on the verge of doing something that is really historic and really meaningful for the American People. This will be a big tax cut for middle income families and also significant cut for our businesses who are not competitive in the global marketplace. But will make them competitive with the chinese and the russians and all the people around the world that we compete with and give our businesses an opportunity to really unleash the potential to grow this economy and create those better paying jobs and higher wages that everybody wants to see. Sandra it all sounds great. This is what the American People want. They want to see our economy thrive. They want to see jobs brought back home. They want their taxes to be lowered and you are laying out the details. 37 top individual rate. 21 , bringing down the corporate rate. A significant drop from 35 . Huge changes from where we are today. Why is your party having such a hard time selling this . Its big. Its consequential and we want to get it right. We have individual members on how to improve it and a long process weve been through. Were coming together behind a plan that does include basic features that weve all agreed on from the very beginning. The framework laid out earlier this year, double the standard deduction. Double the Child Tax Credit. Lowers rates, that will deliver meaningful tax relief. Bigger paychecks to American Families and higher wages for American Workers because of the things were doing on the business side. Sandra there are some, senator, who are laong at the details that we know of as of right now such as senator ron wideen who is saying its not going to benefit the middle class. He is calling it ultimate betrayal. Watch this. The American People are witnessing a master class in how one Political Party relying on secrecy, distortion and brute force can muscle an unpopular, deficit exploding corporate give away to passage. This is the ultimate betrayal of the middle class. Sandra can you respond to him . Well, i think the louder the protest the more they realize what a great piece of legislation this is. The democrats have never liked reducing taxes on the American People. They want to keep the government in washington, d. C. Where they can spend it. You allow the American People to make their own decisions for themselves and their families, theyll make a lot better decisions and we believe, sandra, thats a much better model for how to run a country. And so our bill delivers that tax relief, those tax cuts to American Families and it liberates american businesses so they can expand and grow and create better paying jobs. Sandra do you have the support for this today . When we vote on it next week well have the support for it. Im very confident it is going to pass and end up on the president s desk hopefully by the end of next week. Sandra can you tell me what the biggest Sticking Point is in in the final minutes and dates a few scoring issues. We are getting numbers back. We have a couple members who have some concerns were trying to work through. Like i said, individual senators are trying to do their best to make this the best possible bill in the long run and now we are ore working with our house colleagues to accomplish that. Its been in my view at least a long, transparent, open process where everybody has had a an opportunity to be heard, offer amendments, debate the amendments and vote on them and now its time to close it out. Sandra the president himself has reached out to congressional leaders checking on the status of this several times a week. When you hear from the president what are his thoughts and biggest concern . Having it not pass would be but anything specific . More than anything else the president s message is get it done. He has weighed in on individual aspects of this. His team has been very involved throughout the entire process. I think getting the business rate down, getting individual rates down, and again doubling the standard deduction, the Child Tax Credit are features that will really deliver assistance, meaningful tax relief to families. That has been the president s priority from the very beginning. Sandra roy moore after the senate race in alabama still refusing to concede his team says their campaign is waiting for the ballots to be certified before he would do that. Meanwhile some of your colleagues such as senator Richard Shelby who did not support moore said he and republicans were relieved after the former judge lost. Were you relieved to see him lose . I think the message coming out of this, sandra, unelectable candidates dont normally get elected. There were issues that we knew, everybody knew that were going to be problematic. He was going to come in here under a cloud in an ethics investigation. Im not happy with the outcome. There were no good outcomes as far as im concerned. I thought the best solution if he had stepped aside allowed another republican to run we would have won that seat. So we have to deal now with another democrat in the senate but roy moore lost that election. Its over. Well move on and do the best we can in the days ahead to continue to move an agenda forward that is good for the American People. Sandra senator thune, i know you have a busy few days coming up here. Appreciate your time. Nice to be with you, thanks. Bill the Alabama Senate race is over. Roy moore is not throwing in the towel. What does that vote mean for the president in the coming year . Sandra were learning more about the antitrump Text Messages. Found on the phone of a top agent on Robert Muellers team. What the Inspector General, who found those messages, is now saying. Bill also awaiting nikki haleys announcement on iran. President trumps decision on jerusalem reverberates this thing. Some want the United States removed from peace talks in the middle east. Will that happen . The president is committed to this peace process. That type of rhetoric that we heard has prevented peace in the past and its not necessarily surprising to us that those types of things would be said. Fast acting zzzquil liquicaps help you fall asleep fast, like stop staring at the clock fast, like stop worrying about your boss fast, like wow, youre already asleep fast. When life keeps you up. Zzzquil helps you fall asleep in as little as 20 minutes. Bill another alert right now. Learning reports two Police Officers shot overnight near st. Louis. The suspect who opened fire now barricaded inside his home. Look at that Police Presence on the street outside. There are reports of both wounded officers were wearing bullet proof vests. As a result suffered only minor injuries. Were watching the story and keep you posted as it develops in st. Louis. Were indeed in the struggle to preserve our republic, our civilization and our religion and to set free a suffering humanity. And the battle rages on. In this race, we have not received the final count to include military and provisional ballots. This has been a very close race and were awaiting certification by the secretary of state. Sandra roy moore remaining defiant even after his defeat in the alabama special election. He is refusing to concede the race until the results are certified. Some republicans are expressing relief over his loss despite it meaning a slimmer majority in the senate. The gop holding 51 seats the democrat 49 seats. Bret baier is here to weigh in on all of that. Were not hearing a concession yet from roy moore. They are going to wait until the ballots are certified. Meanwhile what are we supposed to make of all this . What direction is this going in and are you hearing from republicans they are relieved he lost . Yes on capitol hill the leadership clearly is. They felt like roy moore would be used by the democrats especially leading into 2018. So you are hearing that again and again. I will say that the president , President Trump, called doug jones to congratulate him on his win. Other leaders including senator shelby, the senior senator from alabama have called doug jones. So while the leadership of the Republican Party has acknowledged that doug jones won, the Roy Moore Campaign and the candidate have not. It is his right to wait for certification by the secretary of state. Just looking at the numbers, there is a 20,000 roughly vote spread right now as the military ballots and provisional ballots are out. Most analysis says there arent enough there to change the dynamic to force the recount, which would be. 5 in alabama that would force that. It is coming to a conclusion here but you likely wont get a final concession until the day after christmas. Sandra the Deputy Attorney general rosenstein on the hot seat yesterday. We were watching it every minute. He had a big job to do to defend mueller and to defend the integrity of this investigation. Was he able to do that . He pushed back saying that these texts, for example, that were discovered were discovered originally he said in an Inspector Generals report. That is true. The office of Inspector General found those texts by peter strzok the f. B. I. Agent with his then girlfriend f. B. I. Lawyer lisa page. And that has led to one aspect of that investigation. The other part is this ohr, bruce ohr and his wife who worked for fusion gps. That is less explainable and did not have a full answer by rosenstein on that. Sandra do you believe the president is being fairly reviewed in this investigation, Rod Rosenstein says he has no credible evidence, no reason to remove him from this investigation. So is the president getting fair treatment in this probe . Well, i think we have yet to see exactly what the probe is going to come forward with. We know that mueller dealt with peter strzok very quickly. But we dont know what the rest of his Team Looks Like or is comprised of other than who they supported in the election or who they donated to in previous campaigns. I think there are real questions. Obviously republicans on capitol hill are asking those. On the flip side you have a pledge by trump people saying we are going to make sure this is not bias. The question is how do you do that . Sandra that is the big question, right . The bigger looming question is whether or not one can separate looking specifically at him, mueller, can you separate your politics from, you know, from an investigation like this . From offering your professional overview . Supposed to be able to do that in the job that they have. And i think that there are real trey gowdy had an amazing line of questioning yesterday in that hearing as did jim jordan as did others. And so its clearly being looked at. And it is not outside of the spotlight. So expect capitol hill to continue along that track as we wait for the results, sandra, of whatever this probe is going to end up bringing forward. Sandra i only have a few seconds left before i let you go, taxes. Is this going to get done or not . You talked to a lot of people. I think it has come down to the wire. The sense is that theyve got a consensus and that they are wrapping it up. I bet they do vote on tax reform. I think the bigger question is about Government Shutdown next week. You get tax reform and suddenly the government shuts down. Not exactly the Merry Christmas maybe that everybody wanted. Sandra its funded until friday night. Well have to watch that one, too, brett, thank you. Bill Vladimir Putin speaking with reporters annual News Conference in moscow. Fox news was inside the room and well give you details in a moment. Melania trump finishing up her first year as first lady and she has a message for all americans over this holiday season. 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Com to learn more. Sandra sources telling fox news that texas congressman blake fair en holt is planning to retire after his term is up. Wont seek reelection. This news comes amid Sexual Misconduct allegations surrounding the congressman. Bill another alert. He ruled russia for nearly two decades. Vladimir Putin Holding his annual News Conference in moscow reaffirming his candidacy for president. Do russians really have a choice . Amy kellogg with more. Is the campaign for real . Lets start there. Yeah, bill. Not by our standards certainly. As you mentioned, putin is expected to win again. He has the state Propaganda Machine behind him and the Security Services behind him and he has been in power since 2000 and is expected to be in power until 2024. There was, of course, a short break when he sat in the white house as Prime Minister behind me but basically he is nipping at the heels of another great kremlin record, that of josef stalin. Now, the main Opposition Leader in russia has been disqualified for running in elections. People are saying the embezzlement charges that preclude him from running are trumped up. There is opposition light a 36yearold socialite. Her father was putins mentor and bill, even though she has virtually no chance of winning she said she is using her platform to try to at least get out a message of change in russia. Bill what did putin have to say about relations with the United States . He really didnt seem to want to talk about the United States too much, which is interesting. It was a domestic day for him. He is looking at the election coming up in march but he was asked about President Trump and he did say wasnt for him to evaluate the job he has done but he did say kudos for the fact that the stock market is doing so well. He again dismissed the russia investigations going on in the United States saying that they are cooked up motivated by trumps detractors and took a swipe at what he says contradictory u. S. Policy, sanctioning russia together with other rogue states and on the other hand asking moscows helping in dealing with north korea and iran. Did you notice that your congressmen, senators, look very good, wear nice suits and shirts. They seem to be smart people. They put us in one row with north korea and iran and at the same time has the president persuade us to deal with north koreans programs. Are you normal people . Putin did concede he is hoping for better relations with washington but i dont think at this point anyone is holding their breath. The situation, as we all know, is extremely complicated. Bill interesting stuff. Amy kellogg live in moscow. Sandra as we mentioned earlier, were awaiting a big announcement from Ambassador Nikki Haley on iran. Why she believes the u. S. Has evidence that tehran is breaking the terms of its deal. Well bring that to you next. Bill what about the russia investigation by Robert Mueller. Is it compromised . Text messages from an f. B. I. Agent booted from the teamworking in h. R. Jim jordan has a big problem with this. He is the guy who changed the term gross negligence, a crime, to extreme carelessness, not a crime in that exoneration letter that comey sent and unveiled about secretary clinton. That guy was planning to do something. Sandra a department of justice watchdog is revealing how those thousands of antitrump Text Messages exchanged between f. B. I. Agent peter strzok and f. B. I. Attorney lisa page came to light. The doj Inspector General says the messages were found from f. B. I. Employees working the clinton email investigation were asked to turn over their work phones. Congressman jim jordan saying in our last hour the messages should raise red flags for republicans. When you think about peter strzok and what we learned from that text message yesterday where he says we cant take that risk. We cant take the risk of donald trump being elected president and so we have an insurance policy. That shows intent to put together a plan to somehow stop what the American People wanted to happen, which is donald trump be the next president. Sandra Catherine Herridge is live from washington with more on this. Thank you, sandra, the Justice Department Inspector General responsible for independent internal investigations sent the letter obtained by fox news to senior republican lawmakers in the Senate Confirming the Text Messages were discovered as part of his review of the f. B. I. s handling of the clinton email case. The Inspector General told ron johnson and Chuck Grassley that special counsel for the russia probe was notified in late july of this year they had discovered the Text Messages from agent strzok. One of the texts was sent in august of 2016 at the height of the election with agent strzok writing to lisa page in a dismissive matter about candidate Trump Supporters. He was having an affair with her. She responded she and a friend hate everyone and everything. The Deputy Attorney general was pressed on these issues and whether there is evidence of bias. If you have those walmart shopping trump voters that peter strzok so derided in his Text Messages, how do they react to that . Do they have confidence in the f. B. I. And department of justice . We have appropriate internal Affairs Officers who will get to the bottom of that. He also said yesterday they expect the report from the i. G. Very soon. At one point i think he said weeks versus months. Perhaps even in the new year, sandra. Sandra it looks like the probe has expanded past russia. Based on fox news reporting the special counsel is exploring business transactions that dont have a direct connection to russia. After the hearing some Lawmakers Said they took notes during this part of rosensteins testimony. So he has asked to expand the scope and youve given him permission. You are characterizing as an expansion. Its a clarification in most cases, but he understands that this is a special counsel, not an independent counsel. Im accountable for what theyre doing. On capitol hill yesterday we had the president s son, donald trump junior testifying behind closed door before the Senate Intelligence committee. He was there for seven, eight, nine hours. We dont have a good sense yet what he was asked about. In the past focused on the june 2016 trump tower meeting and any emails he received from individuals offering information about wikileaks. Sandra thank you, catherine. Bill u. S. Today will call out iran. The Ambassador Nikki Haley about to make a big announcement about iran breaking the nuclear deal. What is her ralph peters, how are you, good morning to you. This from the u. N. , Ambassador Haley will offer evidence that iran has deliberately violated its International Obligations and tried and failed to cover up these violations. So then what, colonel . The administration has been very close holed about the specifics of what Ambassador Haley will offer. We dont know if it will be related only to the Missile Program or that the Nuclear Program as well. But there really is a fundamental issue here. That iran has been violating a number of international agreements. Iran is supreme confident, they are on a roll. Theyre been victorious throughout the middle east while the United States has been flailing and fumbling along. Why wouldnt iran violate the treaties when there is no penalty for doing so . Bill you have to create something. You are keen to criticize european leadership. You say its a business decision for them. In order to get progress on this you need buyin. So who will buy in on that . Well, the europeans, theyve got issues in which they align with us perfectly and others they dont. On iran the e. U. Wants to do business with iran. They want trade. They also want quiet. They dont see iran as a threat. We see iran as a threat. Israel sees iran as a threat. The europeans see iran as a business opportunity. We face a huge hurdle here, bill. Whatever nikki haley says, no matter how convincing and thorough the evidence she presents, people are going to jump back to 2002 and 2003 and the weapons of mass destruction that triggered the invasion of iraq saying we cant trust you. There are tools in the arsenal of americas enemies and are sometime allies that will make it very difficult for us to make legitimate International Community progress against iran. Bill same part of the world. The president made the announcement moving the capital to jerusalem. Three years away physically the movement. This exchange from the state department on middle east peace where the Palestinian Leader says the United States should butt out now. Watch. Talk about this type of rhetoric has never been helpful. Does that mean the u. S. Doesnt believe its possible to engage with the palestinians under the current leadership . I think we hope to continue to try to work with both israelis and palestinians to force some sort of meaningful Peace Agreement so they can sit down and have talks about this. We will continue to back that. Bill that continues. Mike pences trip has been delayed given the reality of the tax vote here at home. But you say you argue the big undercovered story is the lack of protest in the streets of middle Eastern Capital cities. Describe that. Absolutely. When trump gets something right im glad to give him credit. Recognizing jerusalem was a moral act long overdue and i was amused, bemuseed, but not surprised by the attitude of all the talking heads and all the columnists and experts. As soon as he did that the middle east was going to explode. Blood in the streets. Bombings of the u. S. Embassies. You know what . The dog didnt bark. There was some proper form yeah condemnations from arab governments but what the experts have missed is that the middle east has changed. The sunni arab world is worried about iranian expansion. The palestinians are on the far back burner and the other arabs have bigger things to do right now. I think its very important to keep up with the times. The middle east is changing. Our views of the middle east have to change with them. There has been no horrific destructive response except for abbas and the palestinians saying they dont want us involved in peace talks anymore. Okay. Bill what does that tell you, then . What conclusion do you draw from that now . Conclusion is that one, the sunni muslims who are losing power as shia power in iran are rising, they know they need us. And also they know they need israel. These are quiet alliances. The sunnis, they used to look at israel as the boogeyman. Now its more like casper the friendly ghost. Everybody is cooperating against iran. The palestinians, its over, game over. Bill thank you for your time. Colonel ralph peters in washington sandra democrats setting their sights on 2018. Is alabama a sign of things to come after the red state sends a democrat to the senate . What about the Democratic Party . Is it time for new blood in their leadership . Our panel will certainly take this one up. Hello mom. Amandas moms appointment just got rescheduled for today. Amanda needs right at home. Our customized care plans provide as much or as little help as her mom requires. Whether its a ride to the doctor or help around the house. Oh, of course tom, i am really sorry. Ive gotta go. Look, call right at home. Get the right care. Right at home. Bill 20yearold alex fields is facing a charge of Second Degree murder. The crash from late august during a protest with white nationalists killed 32yearold heatherer higher and injured 19 others in virginia. Bill there are several democratic members of congress who say you need new leadership. Nancy pelosi, chuck schumer, time for a new day. Are you satisfied with their leadership, yes or no . Were making real progress. Look at the 2017 elections here, bill. Democrats not only in alabama but in virginia and new jersey and mayors races, were out there leading with our values. Weve learned from our mistakes leading into the 2018 election cycle and i think well win the senate and house. Sandra tom perez a few moments ago on americas newsroom saying alabama is a good sign for democratic leadership and the party going forward. Jessica tarlov is a democratic strategist and lisa boothe is founder of high noon strategies. Good to see you, jessica, that was a nonanswer from tom perez. What was that . Im so excited to see tom perez on fox news. That was fantastic. Sandra it was a good conversation. He didnt answer the question. I got an email saying it was good. He didnt answer the question. Were going to pstive right now. A number of people in the party who dont think pelosi and schumer are the way forward. They want more progressive people but you have to think about all the things that tom perez was saying there. Were doing well. We have over performed in every election. We still lost some of them. The doug jones win is great for us. It was against an alleged child molester but i understand the positivity there. We need to be careful where we send our leadership and to make sure we dont have nancy pelosi in a place where she shouldnt be and people like a tim ryan, i think jones will be great for the party going forward. Send them places and we just need to be careful. Sandra the gop Senate Majority narrowing to one seat. Things changed the other night. Absolutely. Look, you never want to lose a seat clearly with a 51 majority. It will make things more difficult. Weve seen Vice President mike pence have to come in and be the tiebreaking vote on a couple of different pieces of legislation. Obamacare didnt get done because republicans werent able to get it done with the 52seat majority. That makes things more difficult. I think that also puts on expedited movement on trying to get tax reform done in congress before doug jones is seated. It will be interesting to see where the senatorelect is on some legislation once he comes to the senate. Does he decide to vote with republicans and try to get reelected or does he go with his party . That will be interesting to watch. Sandra jessica, if youre describing this momentum for your party, why wouldnt you address leadership . If thats not the right leadership, isnt now the time to start rethinking it a lot of people are addressing that. Tom perez will not come in here and say nancy and chuck should go. Thats not his position as a leader in our party. He just took over the dnc and has a lot to deal with. Sandra if he thought they were good forthe party he could have used the chance to support them, right . It was a tacit endorsement. He was being political about it. There are voices across the spectrum. Moderate democrats dont think its the right move because theyre concerned about our losses in 2016. Sandra shouldnt tom perez spend time in fundraising. Theyve seen a he issued a litmus test a and having the chairman come in and say congressional candidates wont face some sort of abortion litmus test. But also real quick if you dont mind i also think its dangerous for democrats to read too much into the Alabama Senate race. You had a republican candidate who is charged with child molestation. So unless they expect republican candidates across the country in states they need a win face those same accusations you cant read much into it. You look at virginia and new jersey are democrat state. Virginia is blue. Trending blue state. I think its dangerous for democrats to read too much into that. Bill we had a hugely popular republican governor. One at a time. I am fully embracing pro life democrats. Theyre a valuable part of our party. Joe biden and tim kaine are prolife. I dont like the litmus test. It shouldnt exist. When we band together were stronger and accept everyone as long as they respect our right to choose. Thats first and foremost. We need to think about the fact that we need new leadership across the nation for where its at. Im not ready to throw out nancy pelosi. Someone who got obamacare and prolific fundraiser. She does that better than anyone except maybe Hillary Clinton. Thats important to think about as well. Virginia is tilting blue. It was not a given we were going to win all of those races. Thats about the resistance and the enthusiasm that we have. Alabama is still one of the deepest red states and we got a democrat and a democrat who was prochoice and you would call super liberal. Sandra well have to go soon, lisa, last word to you. The single issue election. The republican candidate was badly damaged by these allegations against him. Look, democrats are facing a very tough mat particularly in the senate if they hope to retake it. Democrats are running for reelection in 10 states President Trump won by double digits and running on tax reform. Sandra wow, we have to go. I have to leave it there, lady. Thank you. Bill more eggnog. Another actress accusing Harvey Weinstein of Sexual Harassment but today weinstein is firing back. Thats next. Why did you take Credit Card Debt on . Second kid. Private school. Medical bills. Moving costs. Solid ground. A personal loan from sofi is a smart way to consolidate Credit Card Debt. Certain borrowers cut their credit card Interest Rates 42 and increased Credit Scores 17 points on average. Borrow up to 100,000 with low rates and no hidden fees. Find your rate in just two minutes, and take on your debt at sofi. Com. Im jon scott. He is down in the vote count by 21,000 but you havent heard the last of roy moore. He is refusing to concede the Alabama Senate race. Why he says he is not backing down and what impact it could have on the Republican Party. Plus three decades in the making now, republicans on the brink of passing major tax reform but could they approve a bill and stumble into a Government Shutdown and nikki haley talking about iran and the nuke deal. How are the tumble Administration Deal with the violation . Bill more development in the Sexual Harassment scandals. Weinstein firing back. Some of the claims are not accurate. For more on that adam housley is on that story today in l. A. Whats happening now . Bill, another day, another list of Sexual Harassment accusations, expect more. The most recent comes with this back and forth between weinstein Mexican American actress selma hayak. In an opinion piece yesterday she said not only did weinstein threat en to kill her but forced her to film a lesbians sex scene. She would receive Oscar Nominations for her role in that movie but says she started crying and throwing up before shooting the scene. Through a spokesperson weinstein says he does not recall making her film a sex scene against her will and regards her as a first class actress and cast her in several of his movies. It comes as more men are being accused of Sexual Misconduct. Pbs it wont distribute tavis smiley after a spokeswoman said Sexual Misconduct was discovered. Smiley posted a lengthy statement online and video to facebook responding to the allegations. Let me also assure you that i have never groped, inappropriately exposed myself, or encouraged any colleague in the workplace ever in my 30year career. Pbs launched this investigation of me without telling me about it. Also noted filmmaker Morgan Spurlock known for the documentary super size me said he was part of the problem and acknowledged examples of Sexual Misconduct and infidelity as well. He said i am part of the problem. We all are. He goes into a long diatribe about some of the things he has done. Coming clean. We hear Russell Simmons accused by a fourth person of rape. One after another lately here in hollywood. Bill thank you, sir. Sandra the u. S. Leveling serious charges against iran. Nikki haley offering evidence. Your brain changes as you get older. But prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. The name to remember. Jon good morning, im jon scott. Julie im julie ban deras. The house and senate reached a deal on the tax deal. The president calls it a giant tax cut for christmas. President trump were reclaiming our destiny as americans, a nation that thinks big, dreams bigger, and always reaches for the stars. We didnt become