Transcripts For MSNBCW The Last Word With Lawrence ODonnell 20171208

I know. Usually i feel weird saying i did a good thing but i think its good. All right . That does it for us tonight. Well see you again tomorrow. Sorry. I dont mean to be weird. Now its time for the last word with lawrence odonnell. Good evening, lawrence. Good evening, rachel. Too late on that being weird thing. Yeah. What happened to the team work . Im the one to say its great. And then 9 00 special tomorrow night is really great an sitting here live right after it to cover whatever breaking big stories of the day there will be and i have a feeling there might be some news tomorrow because its tomorrow. Yeah. Exactly. Its a day that ends in y in the trump era. Thank you, my friend. You know, i dont like tooting my own horn about stuff like this but i think the dossier special we have done im proud of it. And i think people learn a lot and dig it. I hope lots of people watch. I will be taking notes watching. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. Well, as cable news Unofficial Senate historian, im going to try to put what happened in the senate today into some kind of Historical Perspective and im not sure what thats worth anymore and i dont mean to try to litigate the particulars of the al franken case all though the guests tonight are welcome to do that or discuss any other part of this they want to. I simply want to try to place what we saw today in the context in Senate History exclusively which is just one very, very small perspective on what we witnessed today. The country is finding its way to a new place, a better place, and women are leading that way beginning with the heroic women who Time Magazine made the persons of the year and the senate at least the democratic side of the senate, is rushing to try to keep up to where those heroic women have been leading us but politics moves in very strange ways. It doesnt walk smoothly. It usually stumbles. And thats part of what we saw today. I will be resigning as a member of the United States senate. He was driven out by members of his own party and by his own conscious. Do you think it was the right thing to do . I think it was. There is one party thats listening to the culture in the country right now an its the democrats. I am leaving while a man whos bragged on tape about his history of Sexual Assault sits in the oval office. Thank you. What do you think about the accusations of Sexual Harassment . A man that preyed on young girls campaigned for the senate with a full support of his party. I think hes going to do very well. We dont want to have a liberal democrat in alabama. Believe me. I dont know where the bottom is anymore. I wish the rnc was not supporting roy moore. I hope hes not elected. We have to decide as an institution of governing where are the lines about all of this . Because its not going away. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor. It was a historic day in the United States senate. On this day, in the United States Senate History, senator al franken announced his resignation from the senate and senator bob menendez was giving the honor of being a senate con firee on the most important legislation of the year, the tax bill negotiated between the house and the senate in the con frerns committee composed of republican and democrat conferees. Bob menendez will be the only conferee under indictment on federal corruption and bribery charges. In fact, democrat senator bob menendez will be the only Senate Conferee in the history of important tax legislation who has just emerged from a hung verdict in his federal corruption trial. And is awaiting the federal prosecutors decision on whether to retry him. Such are the complications of life for a Political Party thats trying to take the moral high ground on matters of Sexual Misconduct. No matter what ground politicians think theyre standing on, no matter what ground politicians want to stand on, their occupations always leave them standing on political ground. As the cases of senator al franken and senator bob menendez demonstrate so vividly today. First, to senator franken. After nine solid years of work in the United States senate, he took his place today on the very short list of senators who have been resigned because of charges of Sexual Harassment. Franken is only the second name on that list. The first is republican senator bob packwood who was first accused by ten women in a sunday the Washington Post front page expose on november 22, 1992 reporting that during packwoods 24 years in the senate beginning in 1969, he has made uninvited sexual advances to women who have worked for him or with him according to former Staff Members and lobbyists including ten women who independently of each other have given specific accounts of packwoods behavior tord them after the article came out, more women came forward to tell their stories and soon 24 women who accused senator packwood of some sorm of Sexual Harassment. A 21yearold who has just joined the packwood staff in 1976 told the Washington Post that the senator locked the door behind her when she came in to the office one day. And then embraced her running the fingers through her hair and forcefully kissing her on the lips. He told her how much he likes her wholesome very good looks and it was sexual thing, very hard to get him to let go of me. She pulled away and talked her way out of his office. That was typical of the stories about senator packwood. Many of them included the possibility that the senator was drunk. When bob packwood faced reporters about this, his performance was very unsteady. Do you believe you had a problem with alcohol in the past if not now . Well, i dont its hard to ask a person who uses alcohol. I dont think so. But in any event, ill seek counseling in that area, also. Theres an investigation of packwood. I was working in the United States senate at the time and not one senator believed that bob packwood would be forced to resign over these charges. When the Ethics Committee began its investigation. The senate ittics Committee Investigation took three years. Thats right. Three years and the senates attitude towards senator packwoods actions changed slowly but ever so surely during those three years. When the senate Ethics Committee led by the chairman Mitch Mcconnell then recommended to the senate that packwood be expelled, senator bob packwood did what senator franken did today and announced the relgz inspector gener resignation in 1995 seemed unfair. They never found themselves in investigation. Every senator probably knew worse stories about some other senators than the stories that cost bob packwood his career. I witnessed what was one of the sharpest points of pain for bob packwood during that threeyear investigation. It might have been the moment that felt most unfair. To bob packwood. It was a very nasty encounter with ted kennedy on the senate floor outside of the reach of the senate microphones. Packwood was newly elected senator in 1969 when ted kennedy was involved in a fatal driving accident on the part of Marthas Vineyard island of chap quid ditch and escaped leaving a staffer, 28yearold mary jo in the car where she drowned. Senator kennedy pleaded guilty in a Massachusetts Court to leaving the scene of the accident. He was sentenced to one year probation and his drivers license was suspended for a year. There was no senate Ethics Committee investigation of that incident because the senate Ethics Committee had not yet been invented. It is hard to imagine a senator surviving an ethics investigation of a case like that today and it was hard to imagine a senator surviving an ethics investigation of the case like that in the summer of 1994 when bob packwood as the senior republican on the Senate Finance committee serving as the republican floor manager of a finance Committee Bill on the senate floor while my boss the chairman of the committee Daniel Patrick moynihan the floor manager of that bill. Ted kennedy was bitter disappointed in what was happening to us and to that bill on the floor thanks to this strategic roadblocks that bob packwood was expertly putting in front of us. Ted kennedy approached bob packwood and in the angriest tone i ever heard on the senate floor and in the most Profane Language possible, ted kennedy told bob packwood that he couldnt wait to vote the expel him. Bob packwood was shaken and speechless and no doubt had to be thinking ted kennedy of all people. Now i loved ted kennedy and loved being on the same team with ted kennedy on the senate floor but i wasnt proud of that moment. Politics isnt fair because all politics the politics. Politics does not administer its rewards and its penalties consistently. And so, for bob packwood it took 24 accusers and a 3year investigation to drive him out of the senate and for al franken it took 8 accusers over 3 weeks and no investigation to drive him out of the senate. But these are different times. We are in the middle of a hugely important wave that began the day Harvey Weinstein found himself on the front page of the New York Times two months ago convincingly accused of horrible Sexual Misconduct including rape over a 30year period. That first Harvey Weinstein the New York Times story was just two months ago and it seems like two years ago. Because a newly accused man has been appearing virtually every day and the wave seems to gain more force and strength and urgency every day and the wave is flattening every career it hits from weinstein to franken. Every penalty is the same. Every penalty is quick and final. And so, what might have been a survivable Ethics Committee investigation for al franken a couple of years ago was impossible to navigate this year at this time in the middle of this very important and very valuable wave. But to the remaining franken supporters tonight who believe that not all of these cases are the same and not all penalties should be the same, it can feel unfair. But this is politics. And politics is unfair. And a Political Party trying to find its way to the moral high ground cannot step up to that high ground as clearly and precisely as it might want to because politics is always complicated complicated and always unfair and brings us to senator menendez ginn an honor by Chuck Schumer, democratic leader of the senate on the very same day that Chuck Schumer eagerly accepted al frankens resignation after publicly urging him to resign. Bob menendez is a member of the Senate Finance committee and confer ees are supposed to be members of the committee and not always appointed by seniority on the finance committee and Chuck Schumer did not exactly follow that tradition this time. He actually skipped over one of the finance Committee Members in seniority to get to bob menendez but he could have just as easily skipped over bob menendez and ginn that conferee pot to member clair mccaskill, for example. But he gave it to bob menendez for no good reason. Bob menendez has no expertise to the bring to the committee and the republicans are running the conference and no intention of listening to a word a democrat says with the possible occasional exception to senator ron widen, the top democrat on the Senate Finance committee and knows more about any other taxation than any other democrat in the conference but they have only one Public Meeting at the beginning of the conference which is an entirely fake meeting and then the republican chairman of the committees get together secretly and work out the compromise bill usually without ever speaking to the conferees and i go through this detail just to point out that the whole point of being a conferee is that it is just an honor. An honor with no real function. And thats what makes it so strange today of all days that bob menendez is a conferee. Senators like to brag back home about their power in the senate and noting that theyre on a Conference Committee from time to time helps them do that brag. Bob menendez cannot brag to be the senior democrat on the Foreign Relations committee stripped of that honor when he was indicted. But now that he got a hung jury in new jersey in a federal court bob menendez is worthy of honors again . From the democrats in the senate. Yesterday, the junior senator of new jersey said this about al franken. It is right that he should step down at this point. That was corey booker yesterday. On the same day that al frankens first accuser went public new jerseys senior senator bob menendez got the hung jury in federal court in new jersey and immediately after that corey booker endorsed bob menendez for reelection in 2018 as did the entire new jersey Democratic Power structure and so the Democratic Party is now committed to trying to reelect bob menendez in 2018 when he might or might not be facing another trial on federal corruption and bribery charges. Democratic senator feinstein said that al franken should resign, the day bob menendez got a hung jury, she said i think he went through hell with this and thats enough and the charges were not proven and therefore he should be able to come back and carry on. Yesterday, senator dick durbin said that al franken should resign aft resign. After bob menendez, he was asked if the democrats would be welcoming to senator menendez back to the senate and said, why wouldnt we . And so, tonight, in the painful steps that the Democratic Party is bravely taking in the senate to reach the high moral ground they have one foot on the higher moral ground and the other foot is Still Standing on that same ground that bob menendez is standing on. And if you think that result is accidental and nothing to do with politics, consider that al franken will be replaced in the senate by the democratic govern nor of minnesota who will appoint a democrat for the seat. And that if the democrats who convinced al franken to resign also convinced bob menendez to resign, Bob Menendezs successor in the Senate Appointed by this guy. The republican governor of new jersey. But no one articulated the most important unfairness of the day better than senator al franken and not talking about any unfairness to himself. He accepted the way his story is ending in the senate today. But he did point out the unfairness of who continues to occupy the office of the presidency. I have all people am aware theres some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a man whos bragged on tape about his history of Sexual Assault sits in the oval office and a man whos repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the senate with a full support of his party. Joining the discussion now, Dahlia Lithwick and also with us, ruth marcus, Deputy Editor and columnist at the Washington Post. And dahlia and ruth, i have said quite enough. I just want to hand this discussion over to you with your reactions to this day. I think that you make exactly the right point which is that there is this notion that theres this thing, this fixed and fie in it thing called the moral high ground an we know what it is and agree on it and the process of how to seize it and this was emblematic of that step and i think that and i think ruth and i effectively wrote the same piece about this saying, you know, were a bunch of process people and we want to talk about process and im quite conflicted both about the process of how this went forth but also deeply conflicted about what franken is calling an irony. Im actually calling a travesty which is as franken loses his seat we stand poised to elect roy moore in alabama, nobodys saying that donald trump loses his seat. And so, the asymmetry here that not just within the party as you point out but the profound asymmetry of seizing moral high ground and losing so much at the same time doesnt seem to be in the cards. Ruth marcus, please go ahead. Well, the democrats needed to do this for the political reasons that you laid out. They didnt need to do the same thing with senator menendez, actually kind of amazing that we have had a senator under indictment and under trial and paid so little athe engs to it. But as you say, we are in the middle of this revolution and were sort of writing the rules for how to conduct the revolution as its occurring. We need to figure out a dahlia and i are both process people. You probably are, too. We need to figure out a way that does not take three years because the public mood does not you know, we are in the age of the iphone and instant access to everything and instant gratification. We need to figure out an ethics process that doesnt take three years but that also doesnt never even occurs within three weeks where you have unnamed accusers who are believed maybe they should be believed but we dont know because we dont know who they are, you have allegations that involve conduct that occurred before allegedly occurred before senator franken took office. You have conduct thats very different, for example, from the conduct that the president of the United States is alleged to have engaged in and that roy moore is very credibly both the president and roy moore very credibly alleged to have engaged in. Conduct much more serious and troubling than senator frankens. And so, senator gillibrand had a very intelligent and powerful statement the other day that i found myself disagreeing with. Enough is enough and we cant be making distinctions of what is Sexual Harassment and assault and whether this is bad and less bad. I think its incumbent on us not its not incumbent on democrats to figure out whats best for the party and how to retain and grow, you know, get back the Senate Majority and everything else. But its incumbent on People Like Us who observe and comment on the way the world should work to say, hey, we need to be doing this in little bit of a fairer and more jushs way. And dahlia, i literally do not know how to talk about this. Meaning i know all the precedents and i know i feel that they dont mean anything. And so, im even reluctant to bring them up but i brought up some history tonight because there is only one previous case in all of Senate History. So this is what we have come to over that period of time but theres so much about this that i dont even know how to discuss. And you talk about the tensions you have with the process, the tensions you have with where we are tonight. I feel some of those but the most important thing im feeling is the wave and im feeling somewhere in the wave in its theres a wisdom in the wave an im just kind of surrendering to it. I dont know what else to do. First of all, every Single Person who read, ruth, me, in the last 24 hours sent some it ration of the following email or post. Aah you know . People are in such pain. And i think we have to honor profoundly honor that the systems that we thought existed for reporting, ferreting out, fact finding about abuse of women are fundamentally flaued in this country and we have to start from the proposition gnat inquiries and the hr and everything we thought we did post anita hill are broken and we see it with Harvey Weinstein. We see it with roy moore. We see it with the president. I think that we can stipulate to the fact that the existing systems are broken without turning around and taking a torch to them and saying, therefore, some other thing is going to happen and whatever that other thing is, it feels a little bit like trial by twitterment it feels a little bit as ruth as just pointed out like something had to happen quickly and made something happen quickly and that was the best thing. And im just such a traditionalist. I really feel, lawrence, that when we burn institutions down what rushes into the place are not necessarily systems that privilege the poor and the voiceless and minorities. Often when we burn institutions down what rushes in is another kind of unfairness and so i think when we talk about it we have to hold in our heads these two conflicting neoguris and very hard. One is i dont want to be a monster when they go low. We go high. Stipulated. But, two, i cannot aid and abet in the destruction of democracy as i know it. And so theres a middle place and i dont know what that is. Im glad im not the only confused one. Ruth marcus, a last word before our commercial break here . I think youre totally right about the wave, lawrence, and its a powerful wave. I lived through anita hill and clarence thomas. I will haved through Monica Lewinski and bill clinton. This feels different and also a moment thats going to require a lot of complicated judgments from us as it evolves. Ruth marcus and Dahlia Lithwick, thank you for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Coming up, fox news attacks on special prosecutor Robert Mueller, theyre getting serious. Theyre trying to drive him out. Tonight, what will President Trump do when paul ryan asks him to cut medicare and Social Security . Remember, the Campaign Promise . When it comes to holiday shopping, my wife loves style, my son is all about technology and my daughter . She just loves horses. Dont you just love onestop shopping . I do. Ring in the holidays with buick. Get up to 20 below msrp on most 2017 luxury suv models. Thats over 7,100 on this Buick Envision essence. Experience the new buick this holiday season. Experience the new buick 3 toddlers wont stop him. And neither will lower back pain. Because at a dr. Scholls kiosk he got a recommendation for our custom fit orthotic to relieve his foot, knee, or lower back pain, from being on his feet. Dr. Scholls. Born to move. Congressional republicans increasing attacks on special prosecutor Robert Mueller involving the russia probe. According to the Washington Post. Trying to stop or curtail the investigation as it moves further into trumps inner circle. For months, the president an allies have been seizing on any whiff of possible improprietary of muellers team or the fbi to argue that the russia probe is stacked against trump. Potentially building the Political Support needed to dismiss the special counsel. Fox news is now making the case against Robert Mueller for the president. Heres sean hannity and fox news legal analyst greg jarrett just last night. This entire witch hunt needs to be shut down and shut down immediately. What is beyond clear tonight is that Robert Mueller has assembled the most partisan special counsel in history and disgraced in terms of equal justice under the law. The rule of law and, of course, that means our constitution. Mueller has been using the fbi as a political weapon and the fbi has become americas secret police. Secret surveillance, wiretapping, intimidation, harassment and threats. Its like the old kgb that comes for you in the dark of the night banging through your door. And so, the fbi is now the secret police. The fbi is now the kgb in republican language. The Washington Post reports several Law Enforcement officials said they are concerned that the constant drum beat of conservative criticisms seems designed to erode muellers credibility. Today fbi director Christopher Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee where republicans on the committee went at the special prosecutors investigation. Well also investigate the unpre unprecedented bias against President Trump that exists when we allow people who hate the president to investigate in the investigations against him. We do not know the mag if i tuesday of this insider bias on mr. Muellers team. If he kicked everybody off muellers team antitrump i dont think theres anybody else. The question really is if mueller was doing such a great job on investigating the russian collusion why could he have not found the conflict of interest within their own agency. Jonnings now, david frum, Senior Editor of the atlantic and daniel day, washington krobt for the toronto star. David, what do you make of this republican undermining effort where they go to the point of saying the fbi is the kgb . It seems like this is building to a crescendo because theres relatively limited time here and at which point the mueller process is a legal process. Once indictments are actually filed, once things go in front of the courts, then even if the president were to somehow find some way to terminate mueller, the indictments continue to grind and closer and closer to the inner circle and maybe reaching into the family, you know, while youre talking before about politics versus the law, what the president has just as power to pardon 20 as 2 but it looks dark pardoning 20 including your soninlaw and has to happen soon and locks like the republicans are working themselves into the moon and not just from fox whom you expect this and members of the house of representatives. Daniel dale, in a country where 60 disapprove of President Trump, it is somehow surprising to republican that is some of those 60 might actually work at the fbi. Well, its probably not surprising to them but they see an opportunity here. You know, it is no mystery. They know even if theyre not privy to the details of the investigation they know this is bad and going to get worse with Michael Flynns deal and a bunch of other stuff we know from reporting and the Public Record and important to remember is that usually youd say its stupid to attack the prosecutor who has so much power over the president s future and doing building a political case and impeachment is a process and laying the groundwork to say even if, for example, the president faced serious charges, theyre building a political case to their voters, to their base that those charges should not result in their removal of the president because theyre the product of a poisoned tree so i think thats whats happening here. David frum, i cant understand the longterm strategy here because if you had someone who you think maybe involved in or near just one particular subject that was being investigated, and all you needed to do was get that politician beyond that point and then everything would be okay, i can understand some of this strategy but if they do this and if they somehow managed to discredit Robert Mueller, they still have donald trump in the white house. They still have the most unpopular president that any Political Party is saddled with and hes not going to get better. They know, dont they, that he is going to be as reckless and embarrassing to them next year as he is now . Yeah. This is not a longterm strategy. To the extent theres a strategy and im only guessing here. I dont know but lets to int to two things to make it rational. The first is, with the greatest respect to daniel, i dont think once you get to the point where youre actually debating an impeachment it wont matter whether an agent said something about donald trump that two thirds of america agree with. What matters is stopping this investigation from getting that point. They dont have a lot of time. You know, manafort indicted flynn with his deal and needs to be stopped now and remember heres what will happen to the republican bill. Once the tax bill goes through, should it go through, at that point the donors of the Republican Party dont need congress anymore. They just need one instrument. Because even if theres two democratic houses they cannot cut or limit the tax cut without the president s say so and the party will be even more all in for trump after losses in november 2018 than it is now. And the polls are against the republicans on any move they want to make here. We have a new poll saying 59 believe that or either definitely or probably that Trump Officials had improper contact with russia in the election. 30 definitely probably did not. Also, confidence in mueller to conduct a fair probe, 55 are confident. 36 are not confident. And, daniel, i dont understand a party that wants to go up against those poll numbers. Well, theyve you know, all of their everything theyre doing has poll numbers like that or worse. You know, they were trying to pass a Health Care Plan in the 20s or lower. They just passed a tax bill thats in the 20s. And so, everything republicans have done in 2017 polls very badly. I think their conclusion is that they have no good options here, that this mueller train is heading somewhere they really dont want to be and so theyre going to do everything they can to try to, you know, if not bring up a positive bring down everyone elses negatives so its, you know, its overwhelmingly negative strategy but this is what people backed into a corner in politics sometimes do. Daniel dale and david frum, thank you both for joining us tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Coming up, republicans havent passed their tax bill yet. But as soon as they do, if they do, they have plans to cut medicare. Does donald trump know about those plans . He promised he would never do that. And, the little secret in the tax bill that is harmful to the victims of the california fire. It is an amaidsing provision of the tax bill that affects the victims of this fire. This is electricity. The tax bill that affects the victims of this fire. Sing provi the tax bill that affects the victims of this fire. Ing provise tax bill that affects the victims of this fire. Zing provi the tax bill that affects the victims of this fire. This is tim barckholtz. Thats me this is something he is researching at exxonmobil using fuel cells to capture Carbon Emissions at power plants. This is the potential. Reducing co2 emissions by up to 90 . While also producing more power. This could be big. Energy lives here. Im the one clocking in when youre clocking out. Sensing and automatically adjusting to your every move. Does your bed do that . Im the new sleep number 360 smart bed. Lets meet at a sleep number store. laughter on tv when its finally sunday and youve got no plans but with your comfy pants. alert chime on phone keep it simple with Marie Callenders roasted turkey stuffing. Tender turkey with stuffing, creamy mashed potatoes, and made from scratch gravy. Spoiler alert, things are about to get good. click, laughter on tv because me time calls for Marie Callenders. click, laug ter on tv when you have doctors working as a team for your health, you get the care you need to help you thrive. Visit kp. Org to learn more. Kaiser permanente. Thrive. And i am a senior Public Safety my namspecialist for pg e. My job is to help educate our First Responders on how to deal with natural gas and electric emergencies. Everyday when we go to work we want everyone to work safely and come home safely. I live right here in auburn, i absolutely love this community. Once i moved here i didnt want to live anywhere else. I love that people in this community are willing to come together to make a difference for other peoples lives. Together, were building a better california. After passing a tax cut package, they hope they pass it, a tax cut package that wildly increases the federal deficit and the debt, the republicans have a plan to fix that. They intend to violate Donald Trumps Campaign Promise and sharply cut medicare, medicaid, Social Security. Heres paul ryan on this yesterday. Were going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit. But you have two things youve got to do. Reform entitlement programs, grow the economy. Tax reform grows the economy. So we basically planned in this term throw big budget bills. Two entitlement reform bills, one Economic Growth tax reform bill. First one, passed the house, failed the senate. This one, both passed. We are on track with that and then next year entitlement reform. Who could forget candidate trump saying the opposite of what paul ryan just said . Were not going to cut your Social Security. Were not cutting your medicare. Up next, republicans are going to try to cut medicare and Social Security and their biggest opponent should be donald trump if the Campaign Promise means anything. Also coming up, a provision in the tax cut bill that hurts victims of the california fires. And the most shocking thing about that provision is california House Republicans voted for it. When you have a cold stuff happens. Shut down cold symptoms fast with maximum strength alka seltzer plus liquid gels. news anchor downtown traffic is still bad. Expect massive delays. radio channel changing news anchor 2 all lanes on highway 50 remain closed at this hour. news anchor 3 the stats are in and this city leads with some of the worst traffic, with the average driver sitting in gridlock the equivalent of three days a year. For every hour that youre idling in your car, youre sending about half a gallon of gasoline up in the air. That amounts, over the course of the week, to about 10 pounds of carbon dioxide. Growth is good, but when it starts impacting our quality of air and quality of life, thats a problem. So forwardthinking cities like sacramento are investing in streets that are smarter and greener. The solution was right under our feet. Asphalt. Or to be more precise, intelligent asphalt. By embedding sensors into the pavement, as well as installing cameras on traffic lights, we will be able to study and analyze the flow of traffic. Then, we will take all of that data and we use it to optimize the timing of lights, so that traffic flows easier and travel times are shorter. And sacramento is just the beginning. With advances in cameras, sensors, and network speeds, we have the ability to make cities smarter, and happier. What excites me about this technology is that were using some of the most cuttingedge machinelearning, and ai, to help solve the most fundamental challenges that cities face around the world. Who knew asphalt could help save the environment . lani and the possibilities are endless. When this guy got a flat tire in the middle of the night, so he got home safe. Yeah, my dad says our insurance doesnt have that. What . you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Medicaid. Setting it back to the states. Capping the growth rate. We have been dreaming of this since ive been around. Since you and i were drinking at a keg. You know . I was thinking about something else. He was thinking about reforming medicaid. I was, i was. Yeah. Ive been thinking about this stuff for a long time. We are on the cusp of doing something that we have been long believed in. Ah, to be young and republican and drinking out of a keg. Joining us now, bruce bartlett, former Deputy Assistant secretary of the treasury under president george h. W. Bush and norm orinstein. Bruce, you produced this. It was an easy prediction i think we can all agree that these republicans would absolutely violate the Trump Campaign pledge not to cut medicare, medicaid and Social Security. And here we are. Thats their plan for next year. Well, its been their plan for 40 years. The term starve the beast was i believe coined by your old boss, senator moynihan. Im not sure about that but the plan has always been you blow up the deficit, you blow up the debt with huge tax cuts and then you say, oh, the deficit is so large we have to cut spending. And of course, you have people like Grover Norquist who has a tax pledge which means you can never raise taxes to deal with any deficit, no matter how large and all youre left with is cutting entitlement programs because, of course, defense is also off the table. And theres simply doing what theyve been telegraphing the world that theyre going to do for years thighs right. Senator moynihan stared that the in the early stages of the early 80s and finally figured it out that way. Norm, this is such a clear violation of a trump Campaign Promise. It is it is hard to see how donald trump works his way around this one because Social Security recipients, medicare beneficiaries, they understood very clearly what he was saying in the campaign. And they are trump voters. Many, many of them. By the end of Donald Trumps tenure in the white house, lawrence, its going to be much easier to count the promises that he kept than the ones that hes violated. And my guess is hell be saying i didnt make that promise before were done. Whats so striking to me is the in your face nature of what paul ryan and what so many republicans in congress have now been sag. Theyve almost abandoned the notion that the tax cuts are designed to pay for themselves and basically theyre making clear what the strategy is. And all along its been medicare, medicaid and Social Security and not just cutting but transforming and privatizing. You put those together with some of the other elements in the bill including, you know, taking away protection for people who are subject to fires, the state and local taxes, you look at number of republicans in california, new jersey, new york who are enough to kill this bill in the house of representatives, Susan Collins whorkss paul ryan basically said forget any promises that were made to you, and if they still vote for this bill, i think theres a machiavellian reason that trump kept all of the ambassadorships and other top government positions vacant to give them to people falling on the grenades for the greater good of privatizing Social Security and blowing up the debt. Bruce, passing this tax bill is by no means a sure thing. Theres a real struggle in the differences between the house and the senate. Well, thiss true, but on the other hand, they have a lot of flexibility as you know in Conference Committees to jigger things around and write stuff, new stuff, in not even in either the house or the senate bills and im guessing that a tremendous number of deals are being worked on as we speak. And, norm, weve seen bills get this far and not ever make it out of Conference Committee but weve also never seen a republican tax cut bill struggle this way. They usually clear easily and they usually have democratic votes coming with them. Yeah. Of course, part of the problem that they have got is having to do this through reconciliation in the senate. And they dont have the kind of support that george w. Bush had from max baucus and others in 19 in 2001 and again to a lesser extent in 2003. But i think theyve created big problems for themselves in part by crafting a bill designed to punish blue states without understanding that theyre going to be some republicans who are placed in a very uncomfortable position by that and by making it clear theyre taking on programs that are very popular in those states. We will have more on the pubbishment to blue state, especially the blue state of california coming up. Theres a provision in there that hurt it is victims of the fires that are raging there tonight. Bruce, norm, thank you both very much for joining us tonight thanks. The wildfires in california are actually a factor in the tax bill and could possibly some California Republican congress mens vote on that tax bill. To most, hes Phil Mickelson pro golfer. To me hes, well, dad. So when his joint pain from Psoriatic Arthritis got really bad, it scared me. And what could that pain mean . Joint pain could mean joint damage. Enbrel helps relieve joint pain, and helps stop further damage enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. Serious sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma other cancers, nervous system and Blood Disorders and allergic reactions have occurred. Tell your doctor if youve been someplace where fungal infections are common. Or if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for Heart Failure or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding or paleness. Dont start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Since enbrel, dads back to being dad. Visit enbrel. Com. And use the joint damage simulator to see how your joint damage could be progressing. Ask about enbrel. Enbrel. Fda approved for over 14 years. Out of control wildfires continue to burn in Southern California, including in the city of los angeles, as officials today raised the wildfire threat index to purple for the first time in history, indicating extreme fire danger and wind gusts up to 80 miles an hour. And those winds are what are spreading the fire at shockingly high speed. The fires have now covered more than 116,000 acres. Fires shut down the Getty Center Museum in los angeles and damaged the nearby home of fox news chairman rupert murdoch. One thing that could make the recovery much harder for californians is the republican tax cut bill. According to the los angeles times, the house tax cut bill would eliminate the deduction for personal losses from wildfires and earthquakes. A provision that seems targeted at california. 11 California Republicans actually voted for that tax bill with that provision in it in the house of representatives. Those congressmen will have another chance to vote on the bill for final passage. Their constituents have already been busy protest that go tax legislation. Nbc news correspondent jay gray joins from us ventura, california with the latest on the wildfires. Jay . Reporter hey there, lawrence. A lot of unfolding this evening across Southern California. Weve got some new numbers. Well get to those. I want to show you what this fire has already done. This is a graphic representation of how its affecting these neighborhoods. Shells of cars and homes,able just rubble and ash left behind here, as these fires grow across Southern California tonight, from los angeles all the way to san diego. Firefighters, more than 5,500, are on the front lines battling these blazes. We now know that here weve lost more than 400 homes. Thats a number thats expected to climb more th. More than 200,000 people have been evacuated. Authorities think that number will go up as well. Firefighters say these flames arent going to stop until they get help from mother nature. They need the dry conditions and severe winds to die down. Thats not likely to happen until late this weekend. Thats the latest here in ventura, lawrence, back to you now. Nbcs jay gray, thank you very much. Tonights last word is next. Shostakovich playing from our family to yours. May all your wishes come true this holiday season. Run, jthe power of in to tempurpedic sleep with our 90day trial and being the highest ranked mattress in Customer Satisfaction by jd power, its easy to love. Find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic. Com 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. Entyvio works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission. Infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. Entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. Pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection caused by a virus may be possible. This condition has not been reported with entyvio. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, experience frequent infections or have flulike symptoms or sores. Liver problems can occur with entyvio. If your uc or crohns treatment isnt working for you, ask your gastroenterologist about entyvio. Entyvio. Relief and remission within reach. avo even in a galaxy far, far away. bb9e beeping . Having the best network really, really matters. bb8 beeping digital chiming static hissing digital chiming continues its probably nothing. Move along. avo and verizon is the most awarded network ever. Thats why more people count on it. Data received, bb8 digital growling avo and more droids should, too. When it really, really matters you need the best network and the best unlimited in the galaxy. See star wars the last jedi in theaters december 15th. Anyone ever have occasional y constipation,diarrhea, gas or bloating . She does. She does. Help defend against those digestive issues. Take Phillips Colon Health probiotic caps daily with three types of good bacteria. 400 likes . Wow try Phillips Colon Health. Towards the end of the speech on israel today, President Trump began to slur his words, leading some to speculate he may have been wearing dentures. The white house insists its nothing unusual and that most of his words are slurs. [ laughter ] take a look. God bless the united shtatesh. Thank you very much. I cant believe both our first and our last president had fake teeth. The white house official explanation is that the president was just suffering briefly from dry mouth. And i for one am going to accept that explanation because it has happened to me and im sure it will again. But lets keep an eye on the president just in case in this one instance the white house isnt telling the truth. Thats tonights last word. Coming up, the president hits a new low in the pew approval poll, all next on the 11th hour with brian williams. Tonight, what the white house says about donald trump jr. Invoking privilege. And the effort under way on the political right to attack and take down Robert Mueller before his work is done. Al franken on his way out of the senate, reminding everyone the president s been accused of worse. And just hours after that, the Arizona Republican who says hes leaving congress because of conversations with female staffers. And the new polling numbers just out on the president s