And welcome to this special Holiday Edition of the lead, im pamela brown in for jake tapper. And we begin this new years eve with our politics lead. Let the countdown begin. No, not until andy cohen and Anderson Cooper pop that bottle of bubbly, but rather until nearly 1 million federal workers can start getting paid again. Day ten of the Government Shutdown, and there is no deal in sight. President trump spending this holiday alone at the white house and telling aides he will not budge on funding for a border wall and Border Security. This as the president is publicly rebuking his outgoing chief of staff who claims the Trump Administration gave up on building a concrete wall a long time ago. I want to bring in Boris Sanchez at the white house. Boris, what is the president saying now about the wall . Reporter hey, pam, yeah. President trump loud and clear on twitter, saying he wants a concrete wall, at least on some sections of the u. S. Border with mexico. The president saying that Border Security is impossible without a strong, powerful wall. The president very busy on twitter this weekend, even as the Government Shutdown nears 2019. President donald trump home alone on new years eve, and setting off fireworks on twitter. Trump taking aim at his own generals, the russia investigation and even blaming the deaths of two Migrant Children on democrats over the weekend. The president also correcting his outgoing chief of staff, john kelly, who an interview with the l. A. Times, tried to redefine the president s longpromised border wall with mexico. We are going to build a great border wall reporter to be honest, its not a wall, kelly told the paper. The president still says wall, oftentimes frankly hell say barrier or fencing. Now hes tended toward steel slats. But we left a solid concrete wall early on in the administration. Trump responding on twitter this morning. In all, concrete wall was never abandoned. Kelly also blasted jeff sessions, saying the former attorney generals zero tolerance policy, which led to families being separated at the southern border caught Administration Officials off guard, trying to defend a policy they claimed did not exist. Not a liar. Weve never had a policy for family separation. Reporter kelly defended his tenure, saying it should be measured not by what was accomplished, but by what trump did not do. Meantime, the president continues stewing over the Government Shutdown. Trump telling aides, he will reject any bill containing the 1. 3 billion democrats have offered for Border Security, while demanding lawmakers return to washington immediately to hammer out a deal. Some are optimistic the shutdown will end soon. Hes got to deliver on the promise of securing our border, and hes very openminded about combining wall funding with other things to make it a winwin. Ive never been more encouraged if we can get people talking, we can find our way out of this mess. Reporter now, Lindsey Graham says he tried to sell President Trump on the idea he could get funding for his border wall from democrats in exchange for a legal status, a pathway to a legal status, for dreamers, those daca recipients. Its an idea thats been tried before and has failed. Perhaps not surprising that the senator from South Carolina said the president was not committed to that idea, pamela. All right, Boris Sanchez at the white house. Boris, thank you so much. Both sides seem to be at an impasse, meaning this could be the first Government Shutdown to extend into two different congresses. Bi phil, democrats will take control of the house come thursday, and they have now settled on their proposal to reopen the government, is that right . Yeah, thats right, pam. Nancy pelosi has made no secret about the fact that when democrats take control of the chamber on thursday, they will move very quickly to try and reopen the government. How theyre going to do that will work like this. There are now currently seven Appropriations Bills that have not been passed. Thats the 25 of the government thats currently shut down. Democrats will package six of the Bipartisan Senate bills and send those over to the senate. They will do the seventh, the Homeland Security bill, the one thats the most contentious, could include wall funding and a shortterm basis through february 8th and send that, as well. Pam, its worth noting, this is not the end of the story. Senate republicans, including Senate Majority leader, Mitch Mcconnell, have made very clear, unless the president signs off on something, they are not willing to move forward on it, that means democrats might do something legislatively in the house, but the pathway to ending this is still very much, pam, an open question. Very unclear at this hour. Phil mattingly, thank you so much for bringing us the latest there. And i am joined by my wonderful panel here to discuss all of this. A lot of news for a new years eve. Typically its a slow news day. Not today. We are, what trump is the president , you know. Trump is the president , thats right. Thats right. And were in day ten now of this Government Shutdown, as phil just pointed out. Both sides at an impasse, no end in sight. Senator graham now saying the democrats may be interested in making a deal. He brought up the idea of daca. How do you see this shutdown resolving itself, and when . I mean, its not the previous two that went this long were about serious issues. 2013, we had a big shutdown on obamacare, basically. And in 1995, 96, on medicare entitlements after gingrich and the republicans had taken over congress, a showdown with president clinton. President s won, the first two shutdowns. Its Public Opinion and that was because you have a big advantage if youre in the white house. You can control the message. If your party works with you, you hang together. These parties in congress are always hard to keep together. You have dissidents in your party and suddenly you lose control. But thats not happening this time, because trump doesnt really control. If you had a normal white house and normal relations between the white house and the republicans in congress, i think trump would have the upper hand. But thats not the case. I think pelosi has much more control over House Democrats than trump does over Senate Republicans. And i think pelosi has an intelligent strategy. Shes going to pass these other Appropriations Bills, which will fund every part of the government, but Homeland Security. And tell the republicans what youre not going to pass these bills, which you passed. These are Senate Versions of the Appropriations Bills. Right. And youre going to not pass them, why . Because donald trump wants a wall . Whats the rationale for not funding agriculture and interior . Donald trump has control of the message. In that very public debate with the leaders, he told us he was going to shut the government down. He was going to own it and not blame the dems. Hes walked away from that like a lot of other presentations he makes. But hes walked himself into this box. Hes turned around, locked the door and sat there and stewed in that box with that white house and says im not coming out until i get my wall. Well, Border Security is more likely than a wall, if you will. Because theres no Empirical Data to support its going to stop what he wants it to stop. And so the president has controlled this message, but the pow power in the vote lies with the democrats right now, and youre right, that strategy makes sense. The reality is, though, what happens with that seventh bill on Homeland Security . Do they pass it without the with the funding . Does it go to the senate . What does Mitch Mcconnell do . And what do they send to the president or not . Does he veto it . If it comes back, what does congress do because of ongoing pressure from the public . Right. And mcconnell has said that he wont bring anything to the floor unless he knows what the president will sign. And we dont know what the president will sign. It seems like no one knows. I want to get to this sound from former Virginia Governor and potential 2020 candidate, terry mcauliffe, speaking on the state of the union yesterday. Lets listen. What should Democratic Leaders in congress do . Not give an inch. Democrats should not give an inch. Donald trump owns this. So is that the right message, scott . I think its the only message there. Because as i said but isnt this what people outside of the beltway, what they find so frustrating about washington . That both sides sort of dig in their heels and theyre playing politics . But the democrats arent digging in their heels. Theyve offered 1. 3 billion on Border Security. Can you honestly say and look to the American People and say i give you another 1. 3 billion on Border Security, where Border Security on the southern border factually and statistically is down over the last ten years, that the borders arent going to be safer . There are no terrorists coming over on the southern border. There are no gangs. I think. 3 of 1 was the last study of gangs coming over. Drugs arent coming over that southern border, because theyre being smuggled in at legal ports of entry. And immigrants. The majority of the illegal implements. These are facts. To your point, when youre talking about what the public thinks, i think a couple weeks ago, there was a poll that ahead of the shutdown that said that people did not want the shutdown. But when you drilled down on the numbers a bit, it was the republicans who were saying, yeah, shut it down. Hold firm. To President Trump. And thats what hes looking at. The further we get along in 2019 and 2020, were going to see this president become even more political. Because it starts becoming about his reelection, rather than those of congress and we know this is the president who said he was going to run the day he was inaugurated. So this is clearly something that with a committee and everything. Exactly. And that is not thats very unusual. So thats where his head is. To that point, i spoke with the head of the Border Patrol agents union a couple offin wee ago and he told me about an interesting conversation he had with the president in november. And he said, look, if this comes to a shutdown, and nobody likes a shutdown, but if its over a border wall, we will support you, mr. President , over it. So he does have the support of the republican base. He does have the support of the Border Patrol agents. And thats what the president is looking at here, rather than the broader population. Again, Senate Republicans get a say here. The president does not cannot shut down the government if he doesnt have the support of enough republicans to stay in a veto or to block the bill coming to the floor. Congress says for now, ill do what the president wants. Its kind of pathetic. You represent 53 people elected by voters, and you just follow the whims of one person in the oval office . Because they dont know what hes going to do. All the more reason not to follow him. Why doesnt mcconnell sit down with pelosi and dare trump to veto it . And override the veto . Because theyre walking away from him, and thats going to be a real issue for 2019. Trump is leading the party down the tubes. Why dont they want to walk away from him . They should. Im a democrat. Dont get me wrong. Yeah, what are you, defending trump here . Youre going to ruin your reputation. I think theyre hesitant to walk away and in 2019, whether the senate gop walks away or not is going to be a huge issue if they really want to move the country forward and work with the democrats. Theyve had it for two years, i guess, controlling all three houses. And havent made much progress in moving us forward beyond the tax cut thats really cost us a lot more than what they said. So much to discuss. We didnt even get to john kellys remarkable interview in the l. A. Times. My goodness. All right. Thank you, guys. And another thing. Yeah, and another thing. Way too much to discuss today. Stick around. Lots more to talk about. Well, he quoted lincoln and possibly trump. What defense secretary mattis said as he bid farewell to the pentagon. And an american ringing in the new year and russian custody. Did Vladimir Putin nab a spy or grab a bargaining chip . And heres a look at more of the celebration from moscow as the clock crossed midnight moments ago. Stay with us. Aaaaaahhhhhhhh ballooned your car. Call meeeee burke a flyby ballooning. Seen it, covered it. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum need a change of scenery . Kayak searches hundreds of travel sites and lets you filter by takeoff time, layovers and more, so you can be confident youre getting the right flight at the best price. Kayak. Search one and done. Very high triglycerides with diet and exercise deserves the hard work that went into the Science Behind vascepa. Prescription vascepa. Vascepa, along with diet and exercise, has Proven Results in multiple clinical trials. Vascepa looks different because it is different. 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S. Troops from syria, but defended the pullout, saying hes fulfilling a campaign promise. This comes as defense secretary james mattis bids farewell to all pentagon employees today. Mattis wrote, quote, i am confident that each of you remains undistracted from our sworn mission to support and defend the constitution while protecting our way of life. Our department is proven to be at its best when the times are most difficult. Cnns Barbara Starr with the latest from the pentagon. Reporter before the stroke of midnight, the pentagon will make a classified phone call transferring the power of defense secretary from james mattis to acting secretary of defense, patrick shanahan. Before leaving, mattis sent a final message to the troops, including what some see as a last dig at the president s isolationism. Telling the nations warriors to keep the faith in our country and hold fast alongside our allies aligned against our foes. Shanahan takes over tuesday with perhaps his first task, sorting out what President Trump really wants to do about withdrawing troops from syria. Just today, President Trump signaled a change in the speed with which the u. S. Is with drawing troops from syria, tweeting, were slowing sending our troops back home. A change from what trump said in a white house video posted nearly two weeks ago. Theyre all coming back, and theyre coming back now. Reporter he also today tweeted that isis is mostly gone, a change from a few days ago, when he declared we have defeated isis in syria. Military leaders say that is not the case. The tweets coming on the heels of a lunch with one of the president s closest allies, senator Lindsey Graham, whose adamantly opposed to a rapid withdrawal. The president is thinking long and hard about syria. How to withdraw our forces but at the same time achieve our National Security interests, which are to make sure that isis is destroyed. They never come back. That our allies, the kurds, are protected. And that iran doesnt become the big winner of our leaving. So i think were in a pause situation. Reporter but it is not clear what happens now. In this particular situation, it sounds like senator graham is basically saying, hey, i got to the president , and im hoping he rethinks his decision. Reporter its leaving allies and enemies confused. The problem is, the president already announced it to the world. And there are both friends and foes alike who are taking his last announcement of over a week ago, thinking thats what were going to do. Reporter now, President Trump is insisting, hes just doing what he campaigned on, getting out of americas wars. Pamela . Barbara, there was also this tweet that caught our attention from u. S. Strategic command, which controls the launch of u. S. Nuclear weapons. Tell us about it. Reporter well, on this new years eve, it certainly did catch our attention. Let me start with the tweet. And well get to some video in a minute. But u. S. Strategic command tonight has tweeted the following. And i quote. Times square tradition rings in the new year by dropping the big ball, if ever needed, we are ready to drop something much bigger. They say watch to the end. They have a video attached. Lets show that video to everybody. This is video of a nuclearcapable b2 bomber they put out that just a few weeks ago dropped conventional weapons, not nuclear. But they testfired two of americas largest 30,000pound bombs, quite to some effect. And tonight the u. S. Strategic command is basically saying, our bombs are bigger than the other guys bombs. Its a little peculiar, i suppose, on new years eve when the world is hoping for very calm, peaceful new year across the globe, the u. S. Military says its just trying to communicate that it is always ready. Pamela . And its an unusual tweet, as you point out. Barbara starr at the pentagon, thank you for bringing us the latest there. Back with my panel. All right, so lets break this out, jackie. Just last week, you had the white house saying calling for this rapid withdrawal of troops from syria. The president tweeting isis is defeated. Now it seems not so fast. Theres been sort of a shift. What do you make of this conflicting messaging about syria . Well, this is what happens when you dont let stakeholders know what or members of congress or anyone, really, about what your plan is. You know, he also sent the Vice President into senate lunches to try to explain this. And Vice President mike pence was hit with a lot of angry members of congress. Allies werent informed. Because of the random seemingly random nature of this, he really found himself getting a lot of blow bacback, frankly, to why and how this was going to happen. But normally, you get that before you come out and announce the decision. But the president , hes defending his action, bill. He tweeted, campaigned on getting out of syria and other places, just doing what i said i was going to do. Does he have a point . Well, it would be nice if he made a strategic argument for why its a good idea. Its not. I think thats the straw that broke the camels back in the case of secretary mattis. His letter is worth his memorandum is really worth reading. I think its a model of dignity and sort of sense of honor. Different from the spirit of trumps tweets. I havent seen the tweet that barbara reported about. That is not i mean, i have pretty good credentials as being military and im not exactly a passivist, but sending childish videos, boasting about how big our bombs are . Is that really appropriate . It makes you wonder. Ill tell you one thing, one reason mattis left, his choice for chairman of the chiefs was not approved by trump. Which is unusual. He knows these people the best, hes worked with all of the chairmen, all of the chiefs of staff, he wanted the air force chief of staff, mattis wanted general milley, army chief of staff. Thats one of the things that led mattis to feel he didnt like trumps confidence and couldnt make things happen. But im struck by that. That is not the spirit of the high of the uniformed military, especially at that fourstar level. They are not really into this kind of childish bravado. You know . I think trump got hold of that twitter account, and theyre just not saying so. But the reality is, its not a peculiar video. Its really crass, if you think about it. And you know what . In my neighborhood where i grew up, if you were the biggest and the baddest, you never had to tell anybody. People just knew it, right . And so that type of promotion of our military might, maybe it was in response to russias announcement that its got this undetectable super missile. We just dont know, right. Its just coming im sure the Youtube Video of dropping bombs is going to make putin go, oh, man. You see this . My behavior. Really quick, i want to bring you in, as we wrap this up, to get your thoughts on this idea that senator graham seemed to influence the president s decision on syria when you had the president s top National Security advisers, mattis, bolton and pompeo, who were adamantly against it, the president did it anyway, saying were going to rapidly withdraw. But then things changed with graham. This has been senator grahams strategy for some time. We remember three years ago when the two were opponents in the republican primary. Trump reading out his cell phone number on the stage at campaign rallies. But graham has learned to work the president a little bit by, you know, just pushing back what he knows he really needs to push back. Ingram knows how to pick his battles and thats why hes transformed from someone who may have been a jeff flake and criticized everything he may have disagreed with, but he knows in order to gain influence with the president and administration, you cant do that. So im really interested when graham senator graham came out of the meeting yesterday and said, i feel better about the syria decision, im just curious what exactly happened in that lunch that made graham change his mind and perhaps the president s. All right, everyone. Hang on tight. More to discuss. 2019 may almost be here, but were already talking about 2020. Today a president ial hopeful threw her name in the ring. The first to challenge trump, up next. baby crying hold on, im comin hold on, im comin hold on dont you worry, im comin here we come, hold on were about to save you im comin, yeah hold on dont you worry, im comin what does help for heart fait looks like this. 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Which plug in to extend the wifi even farther, past anything that stands in its way. Well almost anything. Leave no room behind with xfi pods. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Click or visit a retail store today. And we are back with our politics lead, and forget about 2019. Senator Elizabeth Warren heading full steam ahead into 2020 today and announcing an Exploratory Committee ahead of a likely run for president. Cnns mj lee is live in boston, where we heard from warren for the First Time Since her announcement. Mj, a warren president ial run has been speculated for months, but its new years eve, the government is shut down. Why announce today . Reporter well, pam, we are told that she actually made the decision to make the announcement today some weeks ago, and when you ask her team why today, they simply say its because shes ready. She is ready to build an operation, ready to make the hires, and she said herself, she simply believes that the issues facing middle class americans are simply too urgent. Im in this fight all the way. Reporter Elizabeth Warren delivering major 2020 news on the final day of 2018. The massachusetts senator and liberal fire brand revealing she is formally exploring a run for president. I never thought i would run for anything ever in my life. But americas middle class is getting hollowed out. Reporter warrens announcement coming 13 months before the iowa caucuses, but already her message is clear, laying out a blueprint of her president ial platform. Washington works great for giant drug companies. But just not for people who are trying to get a prescription filled. We want a government that works. Not just for the rich and the powerful. We want a government that works for everyone. Reporter notably, the senator also making multiple mentions of racial inequality in a video message released today. Families of color face a path that is steeper and rockier. Reporter a clear acknowledgment of the importance of winning minority support. Warren already faces multiple obstacles. Her hometown paper publishing a searing oped earlier this month, calling her a divisive figure and saying that warren missed her moment in 2016 and theres reason to be skeptical of her prospect active candidacy in 2020. She is at 3 with joe biden, Bernie Sanders and beto orourke leading the field. And there was this perceived major misstep in october. Now, the president likes to call my mom a liar. What do the facts say . The facts suggest you absolutely have a native american ancestor in your pedigree. Reporter warren releasing the results of a dna test, responding to criticism she lied to get a leg up on her kmacadem career. The move falling flat with many democrats, and only prompting the president to continue with his attacks. She has no indian blood and the only bad thing about that is i cant really legitimately call her pocahontas any more, because the press will say i am misrepresenting. Okay. Okay. Ill call her pocahontas anyway. Reporter warren, standing by her decision today. Ive put it all out there. Its there for anyone to see. Reporter now, the plan is for warren to start traveling to these early states as soon as possible, but the big caveat, pam, of course, is the ongoing Government Shutdown. She will have to plan her travel around any potential votes coming up on capitol hill. Pam . All right. Mj lee, thank you for bringing the latest from boston. We have our panel back now to discuss this. Elizabeth warren throwing her hat into the ring with this Exploratory Committee. Her video announcement focused on themes weve heard before from her. Economic inequality. Fighting wall street. Government accountability. Jackie, do you think that these are the kinds of things that will help her rise to the top and what is expected to be a crowded democratic field in 2020 . Well have to see. Because i think the democratic party, you know, far be it for me to tell them what theyre going to end up focusing on. But were very early in the process. But i think focusing on her themes and keeping on her themes is what is going to be a challenge for her and a lot of the other democratic contenders. Because President Trump is going to try to knock them off of them. Weve already seen it happen with him and, you know, calling her a derogatory name and her responding to it, and getting in the mud with him over it. It didnt work well for her. It didnt work well at all. I got the impression when she released that, it reminded me of the Birther Movement. Youre talking about the dna test. The dna test. And it wasnt clear to me based on everything i read whether she had some native american blood or possibly had some. But it reminded me of the Birther Movement with donald trump and where the president issued his birth certificate, showing he was an american. Thats much easier. Here she went through a dna test, and she just really played into his hands. Hes not going to let her forget that. Thats going to be part of her ongoing challenge in this campaign, whether shes in it for the long haul or not. The other thing is this. This space of economic populism, its going to be a crowded space for her. Bernie sanders is certainly going to be in that space. There are going to be some others, maybe Kamala Harris. And shes got to find three things in every federal and local campaign. Find money, youve got to have a message, and youve got to mobilize your voters in these primaries coming up. And its a difficult task for anybody. I think she starts with some challenges, and well just have to see. Connecting with the voters is also real key for her. And you just dont know. And there are some who say that she missed her shot to run in 2016 for president. And now the opportunity has passed. In fact, your colleagues at the Washington Post phrased it this way. While the race for the democratic nomination is only starting, even warren supporters acknowledge she has lost ground in the last few months, both by her own hand and because a november midterm elections redefine democratic success with candidates who were in many cases a generation younger. You even see in her home state, shes not coming up first, which doesnt bode well. What do you think . Did she miss her chance . Well, im not a political strategist, obviously. But i think theres a sense in politics that when its when you feel like its your moment, even if the time seems a little bit premature, you jump on it. And i think people would say thats what former senator barack obama did in 2008, even though he had only been in congress for a couple of years. People are saying this could be beto orourkes moment, even though his biggest accomplishment lately was losing a senate race. So perhaps 2016 was liz warrens moment, and she should have run then. I think the primaries will tell whether this is the right moment for her or not. But i think theres no doubt that there is a Younger Generation of democrats that have really excited democratic voters. I think if you look even just going back to the mid terms and looking at the Democratic Candidates that seem to come out of nowhere and really catch the grass roots attention. It was the Andrew Gillums of the world in florida and beto again in texas. And even though those and george. And george, as well. And even though those three candidates didnt win their races, you see how it jazzed the grass roots. And i think democrats would be looking for someone like that. And perhaps that comes in a different generation than warrens generation or the former Vice President bidens generation. And its so early, well have to wait and see. But bill, we are already getting a glimpse into how the rnc plans to go after Elizabeth Warren, releasing this statement today. With her lack of support from voters, including in her home state, on top of her phony claim to minority status, now that she is formally running, americans will see her for what she is. Another extreme far left obstructionist and a total fraud. Is that a good strategy, bill . By the rnc. I mean, i guess this is trumps rnc so you just insult any candidate who announces he or she is running. Who knows whats going to happen. I agree. This does go back and forth. The democrats nominate senior senator front runner, john kerry, they react. He loses, they react in 2008. They nominate barack obama over Hillary Clinton. I sort of think Hillary Clinton having lost in 2016, it feels to me like the mood of a lot of democrats is, can we find someone young, exciting, more like barack obama . Not someone quite so much like Hillary Clinton. Its unfair to Elizabeth Warren, shes only been a senator for one term, beginning her second term. But she feels a little bit like the Hillary Clinton type candidate, not the barack obama type candidate. Yeah, but unlike hillary, if you look at senator warrens polling with people of color who make up 25 of the democratic party, she doesnt poll very well. And no one has really figured out why she doesnt poll well, especially with africanamerican women and africanamerican men voters. Thats going to be a real challenge, because if you have 10 or 15 people in the race, that huge block of voters who are highly motivated and will be mobilized to get out and vote in these primaries all across the country, shes going to have to figure that part out. And youve got some significant africanamericans who are polling higher, obviously. If they get in the race. Like Kamala Harris and cory booker. So shes got some challenges. But who knows. Who knows. This is just the beginning, right . All right. Thank you all. We have much more to come on the show. The market has been dropping like the ball in times square. But on new years eve, a little glimmer of hope. Will this roller coaster ride end in 2018 or 2019 . Homecoming is a safe space. echoing safe space. echoing safe space. youre worried . Arent you . Yes, i am. does anyone have any questions i can answer . the doctor just for a shot. With Neulasta Onpro patients get their day back. To be with family, or just to sleep in. Strong chemo can put you at risk of serious infection. In a key study neulasta reduced the risk of infection from 17 to 1 , a 94 decrease. Neulasta onpro is designed to deliver neulasta the day after chemo and is used by most patients today. Neulasta is for certain Cancer Patients receiving strong chemotherapy. Do not take neulasta if youre allergic to it or Neupogen Filgrastim . An incomplete dose could increase infection risk. Ruptured spleen, sometimes fatal as well as serious lung problems, allergic reactions, kidney injuries and capillary leak syndrome have occurred. Report abdominal or shoulder tip pain, trouble breathing or allergic reactions to your doctor right away. In patients with sickle cell disorders, serious, sometimes fatal crises can occur. The most common side effect is bone and muscle ache. Ask your doctor about Neulasta Onpro. Pay no more than 5 per dose with copay card. The dow rising 265 points, rounding out what has been an insane month of trading for investors and officially making 2018 the worst year for stocks in decades. This also marks the worst december a decade, i should correct. This also marks the worst december for u. S. Markets since the great depression. I want to bring in cnns cristina alesci, live from the new york stock exchange. So what is driving this latest day surge, cristina . Last day, i should say . Well, the president suggested the u. S. And china are making progress on the trade deal. And the market bought it. It was definitely an optimistic end to, as you noted, an abysmal month, the worst december for the dow since 1931. Look, bigger picture, the dow lost 5. 6 for the year. The worst year for stocks since 2008. Look, at the end of the day, stocks were bound to fall. You cant have a bull market run forever, but its the way that stocks are declining that is causing real serious investor concern. Specifically, this month has been punctuated by panic selling, and extreme volatility. Investors are worried about whats ahead. Theyre trying to measure the prolonged impact of a trade war, a Global Economic slow down and dysfunction in washington, d. C. For the average person, were seeing a decline in consumer confidence. Bottom line, there are a lot of headwinds ahead in 2019 and investors are going to be pessimistic until they have reason not to be. As we know, investors like certainty. And you point out some reasons why there isnt certainty right now in a few fronts. Cristina alesci, thank you so much. I want to bring in cnns Global Economic analyst steve moore. Thank you for coming on. Happ happy new year. Happy new year. First to you. What does this rough december and end to 2018 mean for americans . Bottom line. Well, strap in for more volatility. If you take a historic step back, we sort of knew that we were going to be at this point. Economic recovery cycles tend to happen every ten years or so. You go from boom to bust and back again. Ten years ago, we had the financial crisis. Were due for a period of volatility. Were probably due for a slow down. There was a recent Duke University survey of chief Financial Officers from American Companies and about half of them think were going to have a slow down in 2019. So its looking rockier for the year ahead. All right. So steve, back in october, the dow saw its highest closing record and the president tweeted then, the stock market just reached an alltime high during my administration for the 102nd time, a president ial record. So much potential as trade and military deals are completed. I remember back then there was a warning to the president , look, you know, if youre going to take credit for when its high, you have to take blame for when its low. What do you think . So, look, the stock markets had a brutal month. By the way, this last week was i think you might have buried the lead. This last week is maybe the biggest point increase for any week in American History in terms of the turnaround. So its been an incredibly bullish week this week. But the month. Overall, the month, correct me if i am wrong i know, i know. But the big story is that we gained 2,000 points. A big surge, absolutely. Yep, go ahead. But point number two is this, that what about the real economy . I mean, the big story of 2018 for the economy is, as i wrote in my column this week, this year, 2018, that ends in a few hours, this was the best year for the american worker, probably in 50 years. We saw the lowest Unemployment Rate in 50 years. We have the lowest black and hispanic Unemployment Rate. We have 7 million more jobs today than people to fill them. We have wage gains. Thats the big story of the year. I dont understand the negativity. Yeah, the stock market was down, but look, for workers, it was a great, great year and nobody can deny that. Well, you know, the thing is, though, yes, the headline numbers are as good as they have been in several decades. Steve is right. B. But there is a lot of bifurcation. If you look at the top 12 or so cities around the country, the big coastal cities, the reach areas we know, are taking most of those gains. There are large chunks of the country being left behind. There is also a big gap in terms of the types of jobs being created. There is a lot of jobs at the very high end. Theres a lot of 15 an hour jobs. Not enough in the middle. And i think that thats why youve had this sense, even though weve been in a recovery now for so long. And by the way, job creation was actually even better in the last couple of years of president obamas tenure than it was under President Trump. But even so, a lot of people havent felt that recovery, because its been so divided geographically. All right. So i want to just look, if you look at the statistics by the wall street journal, the wall street journal had a great piece about a month ago that showed that the biggest wage gains have actually been for the people at the bottom. So were actually for the first time well in a long, long time seeing a shrinking in income equality, because people at the bottom have more flexibility in terms of their job choices. Actually, what we need is jobs in the middle. We dont have enough middle class jobs. And one of the reasons were actually you know, if you are seeing any kind of coming together, its because stock market gains have been responsible for a lot of the growth in the economy. Lets face it. Those are saccharin. Thats something that can come and go. Thats not the same as growth in the real economy. Okay, steve moore thank you for that spirited discussion. Okay. Thanks. Sorry, steve. Youve always got to get that final word in there. Happy 2019 happy 2019. Thank you both. Appreciate it. See you. As if President Trump doesnt have enough issues with russia, now a new one. An american arrested in moscow, and the timing couldnt be more suspicious. 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Amarin thanks the clinicians and patients who participated ive been really tryin, baby tryin to hold back this feeling for so long and if you feel, like i feel baby then come on, oh come on lets get it on applebees all you can eat is here. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. Your insurance rates skyrocket you could fix it with a pen. How about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead . For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise their rates because of their first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Is it a mission gone wrong or pay back from putin . A United States citizen was detained in russia and accused of being a spy. The arrest of american paul wheelan comes after maria butina pleaded guilty to acting as a Foreign Agent and trying to influence the election. Matthew chance is live in moscow. So matthew, explain these allegations russia is making against this american. Reporter well, theyre very sketchy. In the sense that no detail has been added to them. All that we know is that the russian intelligence services, the fsb, that are in charge of basically counter espionage, have arrested an american citizen. They have named him as Paul Nicholas whelan, arrested him december 28, so a couple of days ago in the russian capital. And that he was, quote, caught spying. Although they didnt fill in any specifics as to what exactly he was actually caught redhanded doing. The u. S. State department hasnt been much help either, because they have issued a short statement, as well. Saying that they acknowledge they have been formally told that this american citizen is in russian custody. They have asked for access, although they didnt indicate it had been given yet. And they said because privacy considerations thats what they say theyre not going to give any further information at this stage. And so, you know, pamela, were still very much in the dark as to what exactly this individual this american is has been caught doing. And just for context, matthew, how rare is it for russia to detain an american . Reporter i think pretty rare. But its not unheard of. And these kinds of detentions punctuate moments of tension in the relationship between moscow and washington. I remember in 2013, there was an american diplomat, ryan fogel, i think his name was, who was arrested and paraded on television, accused of espionage. And he was sort of wearing pictured wearing a disguise, this bizarre blonde wig which all russians laughed at, at the time. There were several other instances, as well, of russians being arrested for espionage. Its not unheard of, but it is rare. And it marks the start of what could be a very tense period in relations between the two countries. All right. And were going to talk about that, matthew chance. Thank you so much. So we have heard from the state department about this, as matthew alluded to. And in this statement, the state department acknowledged, we are aware of the detention of a u. S. Citizen by russian authorities. We have been formally notified of the detention by the minute tree of foreign affairs. And then it goes on to say, it has requested consular access and due to privacy considerations, we have no Additional Information to provide at this time. So, bill, i think one of the extraordinary things here is that there is so Little Information coming out of russia about this american citizen. And even coming out of the state department, though it seems like even state isnt getting a lot of information here. How do you see this playing out in terms of it impacting u. S. russia relations moving forward . I dont know. But i think this is this is putin sending a message to the world. Weve gotten out of syria, and putin likes to do the symbolic stuff and rub peoples noses in it, as well as just to do well in foreign policy. He thinks the rest of the world notices that. And i think here hes telling the world at the end of this year, we just arrested an american. Here in moscow. Lets see what happens. Maybe theyll trade us something for him. But right away, at least, hes not paying any price for it. And, of course, this is in the wake of the arrest and guilty plea from maria butina, who pleaded guilty to being an illegal Foreign Agent in the u. S. This is what Vladimir Putin said following that. Quote, we will be guided by the principles of the old testament, a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye. And then he went on to say that russia would not arrest innocent people just to exchange them. What do you think, scott . Do you think this is retaliation or not . Well, thats documentary evidence, number one. I think i certainly think so. And this tit for tat or Prison Exchange and what have you, putin, like trump, can say whatever he wants to say, but you have to watch their actions, ultimately. So this may be some misdirection. But ultimately, they have arrested him. Obviously, i think the cia knows more than we do and whats been published. So i would think that more will leak out coming forward. And then if there is some type of Prisoner Exchange because this individuals family certainly will want that person out of russia, well just have to wait and see. And President Trumps actions will definitely be watched. Speaking of actions that are watched. His actions and how he reacts will be closely watched, because of his relationship with Vladimir Putin. Exactly. Right. I mean, he had drawn criticism, since hes been in office, that hes been too friendly with putin. So it will be interesting to see if that tone changes. Exactly. And one thing to watch, remember, the president was actually supposed to meet with Vladimir Putin at the g20 last month. That meeting was cancelled. Some signs that another putin trump summit could happen in 2019. So well be on watch for that. Theres a lot to keep an eye on in the year ahead, that is for sure. Happy new year to you all. Thank you for coming on the show. Im pamela brown in for jake tapper, wishing you a very happy new year. And be sure to tweet the show at the lead, cnn. Our coverage continues, right now. New years shutdown. With much of the Government Shutdown all around him, President Trump is a white house shutin this new years eve, tweeting like fireworks as he battles democrats over his border wall. Accused of spying. Russia arrests an american citizen in moscow, accusing him of espionage. Is that a move to retaliate after an alleged russian spy pleads guilty to trying to influence u. S. Policy during the election campaign. Warrens run. Elizabeth warren announces splo Exploratory Committee for a president ial run. Could she be the democrat to take on President Trump