for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. wherever you're watching, thanks very much for joining us. we start with breaking news. a major day here for republicans on tax reform. senate republicans are being briefed on their tax plan. and they will unveil their version very soon. we're standing by live. meanwhile, at any moment we the expect to see the final details of the house republican tax bill, the big question, what are the gaps between the house and senate plan. we'll be live on capitol hill. what are you already hearing? >> reporter: the details are still emerging up here on capitol hill, but so far according to sources, there are some pretty big differences

between the house and senate bill that right now lawmakers here in the senate are being briefed on. so to just hit a few, the senate bill would have 5 to 7 tax brackets, that is different than the house bill, that is four tack gets. also we expect different income threshold levels in the senate bill which we do not know those threshold levels yet. we're still waiting to see the senate bill has a partial repeal of the estate tax, a full repeal of the state and roll tax reductions. the house plan plea serves at lea preserves some. and also note pli sources telling cnn that the senate bill will call for a one year phase-in of the 20% corporate tax rate, that is different than the house bill which had an immediate an permanent reduction of the tax rate. so as we talk and in the days and weeks ahead about the differences between the senate bill and the house bill, expect the house leadership and senate leadership to down play the significance caof the differenc.

speaker of the house paul ryan asked about all the details that are emerging and he down played it, he said the house has their version, the senate has their version. and this is part of the process. we then reconcile the differences. but as we have been talking about, they are under such an incredibly tight and ambitious time line and that is why the differences matter because they don't want any sort of speed bump in the time line ahead. >> the state and local tax deduction a major issue for a lot of republicans in states like new jersey, connecticut, new york, california where there are he are significant tax deductions available. pressure also coming from the white house. mick mulvaney pledging that the president will not, repeat, not sign any bill that raises taxes on the middle class. how do these two plans as far as we know right now stack up? >> reporter: yeah, that was very

big and clear promise from republican leaders that every middle class taxpayer they say will receive a tax cut. but some analysis coming out in recent years really calling that into question. most notably from the joint committee on taxation, their analysis says that eventually nearly one in five u.s. households would get a tax increase under the plan as it currently stands, the houts plan. and less than half would still be looking at a tax cut. so certainly republicans up here as they push forward to their goal to get it passed by the end of the year, not only is it a mess thinking problem, but certainly also a policy problem as well. >> all right. let us know when we get the exact versions and we'll come back to you. thanks very much. paul ryan sounded very confident this morning about republicans making good on their promise to cut taxes. listen to this. >> we're doing this the right way, we're doing it the regular order way. it takes time, but trust me, we'll get this over the finish

line. we ran in 2016 on doing this tax reform. the president ran on doing this tax cut and tax reform. so this is about fulfilling or promises to the american people. >> joining us now to discuss all of this, our cnn global economic analyst, the president of the committee for responsible federal government. federal budget i should say. and mia mcginnis is with us. and david drucker and also gloria borger. so they made a similar very upbeat promise will repealing and replacing obamacare. didn't exactly work out at least not yet. now they are make being a very, we have similar guarantee that they will cut taxes. don't worry about it. >> well, it's supposed to be the cut, cut, cut bill as the president says and we're not so sure at this point. and you see large differences

emerging between the senate bill and house bill regarding state and local taxes which of course is very important to legislators from larger states, the question of the corporate tax rate, would it be a one year phase-in, would it affect immediately, how many brackets. this has to work its way through. but the big problem they will have is that they want to be able to tell everyone middle class voter that your taxes are going to go down. and what we're hearing and talking to republicans is the promises are more like your taxes won't go up. that is not the same thing. it is not the same thing. and ta it is a political messaging problem for backs that the repus suffered in the elections the other day, how will that impact the and of the republicans to

get their act together and pass this legislation? >> interesting enough, it could add to the political will that exist dodd it. if they can't deliver anything this year in their first two years of the trump administration, then voters will say why show up in the midterms. gloria brings up a good point. president was going to call it cut, cut, cut and it has become hope, hope, hope. because every voter thinks that they are middle class and i think the bill does a decent job of hitting the middle class to the $50,000 to $150,000 range. but a lot of voters that voted on tuesday in suburban philly and new york and suburban washington and northern virginia that are on the upper end of the middle class and they are not necessarily going to get a cut. and these are contested

districts that democrats are going after, some won by hillary clinton last year even though they are typically republican, and that is where democrats are hoping to win back the house majority. and so if the republicans don't deliver for them, talking to senator chuck schumer yesterday, he feels this is where democrats can really make inroads. republicans could be in trouble even if it does whichever for some of voters that they are promising. >> you've looked at the impact that the proposed tax cut will have on the middle class and the president promising the middle class, working class, they will pay less tax as a result of this legislation. what are you discovering? >> you you know, there is no question that the majority of the tax plan is going to benefit the rich. joint congressional committee on taxation says that. i want to be fair and say when 70% of your tax base is rich %-p rich. but in both the senate and house plan, and the white house plan, the real action is in corporate tax breaks.

and there is just no evidence over the last 20 years that giving rich cooperations a tax break creates growth. that is a really mythology. you are hearing steve cohen talk about trickle down economics. we know that is broken. so the glad we'll somehow magically create growth and jobs and good thing for the middle class by benefiting rich corporations is just wrong. >> and mia, do you agree, disagree, how will this impact the average person out there if there is a huge cut from 35% to 20% for cooperations? >> i think t corporations? >> i think if we keep in mind that the original purpose of tax reform was to grow the economyr? corporations? >> i think if we keep in mind that the original purpose of tax reform was to grow the economy and you want to make sure that translates in to higher wages. so we need to look at how pro-growth is that and who will benefit from that. and in order to have a tax

reform bill to make sense, it does need to be pro-growth, it does need to have a whole lot of elements that are permanent instead of expiring every couple years and it does need to be paid for. which this bill is not. and recently we've had a lot of scores that have looked at the plan even after you account for economic growth and it shows that it will still lose in the neighborhood of a trillion dollars. this at a time when the debt is the highest it has been relative to the economy since world war ii. so i think we need to think about the fact that we are moving forward with a plan and i understand there is a political imperative get it done, and i understand that everybody wants a tax cut. but listen, our debt is huge. we've just passed a budget that has zero spending cuts in it. and we don't have the revenue to pay for our promises in entitlement programs. so it's clear that it is not the time for a big tax cut. but we need to grow the economy and is big piece, is this final

bill permanent. because if we have things sun setting all over the place, that won't worked for-to-gr to glow econo grow the economy. >> don't you get the sense that they are trying to craft something that gets over the $1.5 trillion deficitthe econom. >> don't you get the sense that they are trying to craft something that gets over the $1.5 trillion deficiteconomy. >> don't you get the sense that they are trying to craft something that gets over the $1.5 trillion deficit>> don't y they are trying to craft something that gets over the $1.5 trillion deficiteconomy. >> don't you get the sense that they are trying to craft something that gets over the $1.5 trillion deficit to get the votes, could beling together whatever they cannot about policy, but about how do they stay under that number. and that seems to me to be sort of an odd way to concoct far reaching legislation. >> and you want smart economics more than smart politics. and that is always true. but it's really true when talking about tax reform. because some of the things that are best for the economy are harder to translate into talking points. so we don't want the competng talking points to leads this to deterioration of the tax bill. >> how awkward is this for some of those very conservative republican deficit hawks who are concerned about the nation's

debt $20 trillion, this would increase it over ten years by $1.5 trillion, maybe $1.7 trillion. but they are willing to go along with that increase in the nation's debt. these tax cuts are not paid for. >> it's awkward for them especially after the rhetoric we've heard from republicans over the last and i had years. i think what is even more awkward though is the sort of change in political tone. republicans argued that everybody that pays taxes deserves a tax can you tell rkz and that was good for the economy and fair. and what they have basically done now is adopt the democratic argument even if not fully policies, they have adopted the democratic argument that really the middle class deserves a tax cut, nobody else needs it. now on the corporate side, i think it's important to note that republicans have an argument to make here because what we have seen over the past decade are so are corporations based in the u.s. seeing that it

is more advantageous to be headquartersed overseas. the obama administration tried do something about it, republicans are trying to fix it. and this does matter and can have an impact on jobs. and so on the corporate side, i think there is a lot more unanimity among republicans. i think the difficulty is on the individual side. >> all right. everyone stand by to get the actual language of the new legislation in the senate, the house. we'll update our viewer. also from criticism to comp pli mts, a new strategy with china saying he doesn't blame clooi for taking advantage of the united states. and plus kremlin calling. trump and vladimir putin set to meet in vietnam with the issue of election meddling in the united states very much on the agenda. we're on a mission to show drip coffee drinkers, it's time to wake up to keurig. wakey! wakey! rise and shine! oh my gosh! how are you? well watch this. i pop that in there.

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full-bodied. did yon the national debt?ssman get elected by talking tough will they stay true to their words? or did they promise you one thing... only to do another? right now, congress is talking about tax cuts that will add trillions to our national debt and hurt our economy. it's time to tell congress... don't borrow more money from china.

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we can't continue to allow china to rape our country. and that's what they are doing. it's the greatest theft in the history of the world. dhooi china is responsible for nearly half of our entire trade deficit. they break the rules in every way imaginable. we give state dinners to the heads of china. i say why are you doing state dinners for them? they are ripping us left and right. just take them to mcdonald's and go back to the negotiating table. seriously. >> as you heard before and while running as presidential candidate, donald trump hammered the chinese when it comes to trades calling them liars, cheaters and thieves. but now a rather dramatic change of tone by the president during his trip to china, the president has changed to a much more conciliatory message. >> booth the united states and china will have a more

prosperous future if we can achieve a level economic playing field. right now unfortunately it is a very one-sided and unfair one. but -- but -- i don't blame china. after all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens. i give china great credit. but in actuality, i do blame past administrations for allowing this out of control trade deficit to take place and to grow. >> let's go to our white house reporter caitlin collins traveling with the president in beijing. trade and north korea very much two of the big items on the president's agenda in china. so -- and you heard that very

different tone coming in from therd when it co president when china. what was accomplished first on trade? >> reporter: well, the president certainly didn't accomplish the trade goals he had in mind. he certainly wanted to notch a few win for the united states. and the other priority being north korea. but we saw north korea really dominate the talks here and not only that, but we saw the president really change his rhetoric on trade. instead of criticizing china which was the center piece of his campaign saying that they were, quote, raping the united states and promising to label them a currency manipulator, we instead saw the president today praise china for doing so and saying he didn't blame them for the trade imbalance and instead faulted those past administrations. so quite a change in tone from the president here. we did not see the same from president xi as president trump lavished a lot of praise on him. we saw president xi speak instead in more scripted

measured tones and saying that he was hopeful about a new start for the relationship between the united states and china here. >> when it comes to north korea, president trump was expected to push china to take a harder line as far as pyongyang is concerned. was he able to get any new guarantees from the president xi that the chinese government which does have a lot of influence on north korea given the trade that goes between those two countries, that the chinese will take much more decisive steps in curbing the north korean missile and nuclear program? >> well, that would have been a great question to ask president trump if we had had the opportunity to do so. but we did not. because after he delivered a joints statement with president xi, they did not take any questions from reporters. and the white house says that was at the insistence of the chinese. butted i

instead we had secretary of state so he was britillerson br. he said that xi told trump that he would attempt to crack down on the chinese backs that are continuing to do business with north korea here. but because we couldn't ask the president any questions about this, we didn't hear from him himself on this, wolf. >> very interesting. all right, thanks very much. caitlin collins reporting from beijing. while president trump attempts to turn up the heat on north korea, with the help of china and other u.s. allies in the region, the reclusive nation is fighting back with words. state run xwleed in north korea now calling the president of the united states quota lunatic old man. will ripley is in north korean capital. >> reporter: you have to wonder where the propaganda writers get their material. some very fiery words in their leading newspaper in an article about president trump's visit to seoul, south korea just before his arrival in china.

the article comparing president trump's words at the national assembly in seoul to, quote, filthy rhetoric spewing out of his snout like garbage that reeks of gunpowder to ignite war. and we did get a look firsthand on the streets of the north korean capital today at just how the north korean regime manages to maintain such tight control over the hearts and minds of the 25 million people who live here by controlling the flow of information. north koreans know that president trump gave a speech in south korea, but they have no idea about the comment. it was a very brief mention on television and in the state controlled newspapers. they didn't talk about president trump's long list of human rights abuse allegations documented extensively by the you united nations. they didn't talk about the president's direct challenge to north korean leader kim jong-un saying that the paradise that his grandfather envisioned simply didn't come into existence. president trump calling that paradise a hell that no person should endure.

but our north korean government guides did allow us to ask regular people on the street what they think about the president's words. we led them out to people and the responses were predictably quite indignant, people echoing back their own rhetoric sounding very similar to what they read in the news. but at least here in pyongyang, they take great umbrage with the at the same time by the u.s. president that their life here is helhell. they say this is their home. >> all right, will ripley, thanks very much. strong reaction in north korea. trade concessions in china expected meeting between president trump and the russian president vladimir putin. a lot to discuss. let's bring in our global affairs corporate elise labott and retired admiral john kirby. what did you think of the president's new tone when it comes to china? >> well, very interesting.

the campaign trail he is talking about china raping the united states and now he's saying i don't blame china for wapg the united states. i think you have his national security advisers saying yes trade is important, but we really need to get china to the table on north korea. whether they will be able to do that remains to be seen and i don't think that they really secured any concessions here. but you've noticed he always says that he will give china a kind of deal on trade if they cooperate on north korea. and i think that is what you saw again today. he is trying to butter them up to get something on north korea. but trade is certainly one of his premiere issues and i think his base will be very disappointed with the tone that he took toward the chinese. they are still building that relationship though and i think that is part of that. >> his message is don't blame china, blame the obama administration for being weak negotiate tors. didn't know how to handle this kind of issue. do you think he is getting the commitments from china to squeeze north korea right now in

it's ballistic missile program? >> if you hadded to me china would ban all imports of seafood and natural gas and that they would cut by quite a lot their export of oil to north korea, i'd have laughed at you. so they have put in place tougher sanctions and made some progress. and china is doing more. that didn't mean that they can't still do more. and i think putting pressure on them is right. and elyse is correct, he has to walk a fine line here. you want china do more on north korea so you have to meert somewhsom meter the trade imbalances. >> and we're all being look being ahead now when the president is in vietnam, he is supposedly going to be meeting with vladimir putin. a lot to discuss on that issue. including the whole issue of russia's interference medal management u.s. presidential election. >> and you see the jockeying going onmedalmanagement u.s. presidential election. >> and you see the jockeying going on.

kremlin put out there that the meeting will take place. you heard secretary of state rex tillerson say listen, we're not so sure the meeting will take place. we have to see what the kind of deliverables will be if there is a reason to meet, are we going to get anything out of that meeting. so i think florida is the kind of thing you usually see behind the scenes. but this meeting is very important in terms of north korea, that is really the preeminent issue. they have to talk about syria. will the issue of elections meddling come up? i don't think that it will come up in the way that a lot of people would like to come up. you better stop meddling in our democratic process. i think that it would be recognition that this is a irritant as secretary tillerson put it and we need to move past it. i don't think that there will be any criminal in aer to discussion. but i think it's a good idea to meet. these are the kind of leadersin discussion. but i think it's a good idea to meet. these are the kind of leaders he needs to meet with to get things done. >> secretary tillerson says the election meddling will be on the

table, but that didnoesn't necessarily mean the president will raise those issues. >> it could just be a passing comment by a staffer. who knows. but there are real issues that they have to talk about and i hope that they do take advantage of the time there to have even if it's just a pull aside. look, it's north korea, ukraine, people forget what about russia continues to do in europe and we have this defense secretary at nato right now talking about how we can bhol sister oolster our there. and syria. the civil war drags on. there are incredible amount of people suffering in syria. and you've seen little about how to get to a political diplomatic solution. so a lot of items worst talking about. >> and the frommed president oi says he wachbtds china and russia to do more. >> and they have been sort of playing the double game here.

they haven't cared much about the north korea issue until recently because they see it as a way to check ourfully in the region. but they just in the first quarter doubled their trade up to 30 mo$30 million with north . not a lot compared to china, but they can play a more helpful role. >> all right. thanks very much. we'll watch this trip very closely. coming up, other important news. senate republicans are set now to unveil the details of their new tax plan. we're standing by for that. plus president trump set to possibly meet once again with the russian president vladimir putin as the probe into russian meddling and the u.s. presidential election clearly escalating. so what message should he send? i'll ask a key member of the senate foreign relations committee when we come back.

president trump could meet tomorrow with the russian president vladimir putin on the

side lines of a summit in vietnam. a russian presidential aide is quoted as saying the meeting will in fact happen. u.s. officials say they are still trying to nail downs details determining whether the move forward with the meeting. let's see if it happens. democratic senator jeff berkeley of oregon is joining us. senator, thanks very much for joining us. >> you're very welcome. good to be with you. >> do you thinks president should meet with putin right now? >> i think that the -- he should if he will be a watch dog for america. tillerson has said that there would be discussion of russian sbhfrns in our elections and my fear is that the president will say thank you. what he should be saying is this is unacceptable, it cannot happen in any other form, your interference in our social media trying to drive divisions, all of it is stoolgtszly unt toolin unacceptable.

>> administration officials say he wants to talk to putin about russian help as far as north korea, syria, the run sssia involvement there. ukraine, croatia. there are other issues that are critically important right now. would that be enough if he doesn't bring up the russian meddling? >> well, certainly the issue with north korea does require russian cooperation. they also have an oil pipeline in north korea. so if china turns down the oil as part of the pressure and russia turns up the oil, we've accomplished nothing. so that is a key point that needs to be worked on. in fact the whole issue with north korea is that in order for them to stop their nuclear warhead test, to stop their long ballistic missile tests, it takes a lot of international cooperation and very consistent application of pressure and so farther administration has not shown the ability to bring that forward and in fact undermined

it significantly by failing to recertify the iran nuclear deal. >> in the last few weeks since the g-20 summit in july, paul man forwaafort has been indicte former policy adviser has pled guilty to lying to the fbi. and now sources are telling cnn that the former national security adviser michael flynn is increasingly concerned about his son's potential legal exposure in this russia probe. what is your take, senator, on where the investigation stands right now and where it is headed? >> there is a picture published recently that showed the foreign policy adviser sitting in the room and of course he has conveyed that the did raise the question with the trump campaign team on ways to meet with putin, and certainly a piece of this

was about cooperation. so i think we're just going to learn more and more as different pieces come forward. there are a lot of very nervous people in the trump administration including donald trump. and that is why he was so upset about the appointment of the special prosecutor. >> and what is your biggest concern about what the republicans have in store especially the senate version of the tax reform? >> well, so there was a republican caucus meeting this morning to go over the details. all that we know right now is that it sounds very likely that they will delay the corporate tax for a year. and that they are going to double tax state and local taxes in order to create more money to be inside the $1.5 trillion deficit ceiling. but while we are discussing those details, here is the big picture. the big picture is that this is a multitrillion dollar heist of the american treasury to deliver those benefits to the very

richest americans. and this is not the way that you build a foundation for families to thrive 37 we need to invest in jobs, health care and education, not increasing the income and wealth disparity that already haunts us. >> and a story that is breaking right now, i want to get your quick reaction, sources telling us that the white house chief of staff john kelly actually pressured the acting homeland security secretary elaine duke to end what is called the protective status for tens of thousands of honduran refugees now here in the united states leaving duke according to some sources distraught and disappointed and actually ready to leave the department. i don't know if you've heard about this. you know anything about it. but what is your reaction? >> i wasn't familiar with the details inside the administration, but we all have been aware the administration did put out that they want to end this protective status. this is largely the vast majority are folks from central america who have horrific circumstances back home and they ever he been here long enough

that they now have connections that would make it extraordinarily difficult to return under the best of circumstances. and so i think it merits a very robust debate about the roll of the program and certainly the plight that these individuals will be placed into. >> we're told she rejected all that pressure, all that recommendation and at least for the time being they will continue to have that protective status. senator, thanks for joining us. >> you're very welcome. take care. coming up, a missed warning sign, troubling new details emerging about the texas church shooter and how he used animals for target practice. my digestive system used to make me feel sluggish but now, i take metamucil every day. it traps and removes the waste that weighs me down, so i feel lighter. try metamucil, and begin to feel what lighter feels like. i am so busy. so chase sapphire reserve cardmembers are helping plan my next vacation. japan, how's dinner?

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new chilling details about

the gunman in the church massacre. former colleague says that devin kelley bought dogs and other animals off craigslist to use them as target practice. colleague also says kelley was fascinated by mass murders and joked about killing people. diane gallagher is joining us live in texas. you've been looking in to the shooter's background. what else have you discovered? >> reporter: yeah, this is just another one of those dots that seems to have not been connected in his past. we know about the one year conviction in military prison because he assaulted his now ex-wife and infants stepson. theimal cruelty charges. and this may be the most disturbing from a colleague that worked with him at holloman air force base. she said while in the service, he threatened to kill himself, he was worried about attacking or killing others and that he

seemed fascinating with mass murder. now, she maintains take the air force did get him help, psychiatric and chaplain counseling, but she says they reconnected on facebook in 2014 once they were both civilians when he was looking for a reference for a job. they were talking through messenger like people often do and said at that points he started saying things like he would buy dogs off of craigslist for the purpose of killing them. and she said that after a white supremacist went into a charleston church and killed nine worshippers, dylan roof oig, that he told her he thought that was cool and that he would not have the nerve do that, he though he wished we would. you could probably only kill animals. of course we know that he went in to a church on sunday and killed 26 people including an unborn child. it really is chiing inchilling

hear it. >> and also the possible fit of the baptist church are. what are you hearing? >> reporter: yeah, we're just getting this in. southern baptist conference says that they have been speaking with pastor frank pomeroy who lost police daughter in that shooting and he said it would be his preference to tear the church down and put a memorial up in its place. they will let the church decide, but definitely the pastor's preference probably not to have service there anymore. make it a memorial. >> diane gallaghegallagher, tha. we're also standing by expecting senate republicans to unveil the specific details of their new tax plan. we'll bring that to you as soon as we have it. also, bribery scheme or just friends being friends? we're on the verdict watch in the corruption trial of senator bob menendez. a live report from the courthouse and a lot more, that is all coming up. your insurance company

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under way federal core rupp shun trial of senator menendez 18 count accepting more than $600,000 in political contributions, three rides at a private jet, and luxury hotel accommodations. in exchange, they say he took official actions to help donor with disputes. deliberations started on monday and senator says he's fine with waiting for the verdict. >> listen, the jury has family, children, jobs. i get after nine weeks, 60

witnesses, hundreds of pages, they are doing their job. and they also have challenges at home. so, you know, i'm happy to wait for the jury to come to a just verdict. >> let's bring in our analyst to discuss this. you monitored this trial, the arguments on both sides. how strong of a case does the government have? >> well, the government had a strong case until we learned a juror asked what's a senator and that question they asked in deliberations says there may be a disconnect what they were saying, and had character witnesses brought in in support of the defendant. bob menendez to talk about this issue. two senators. so a question about how strong the case was. but all this really hinges, woll, of a previous case of a former elected official, bob mcconnell. and supreme court has been clear, look, you have a tough

burden to prove that i get that you are going to benefit them in the future for a potential hypothetical official act, it has to be a very clear connection and you have to prove it's not a friendship, it's actually a quid pro quo sort of exchange. >> so when this juror asked the definition or what's a senator, the implication being that if a friend does something for a friend, even if that friend is a senator, that's not necessarily wrong? >> not going to be -- really what it comes to if you are the prosecution in this case, your entire case is hinged on the notion senator has a particular duty and must abide by certain terms. you and i have a fight, abuse it by getting a financial gain as part of public service. if you are a defense and hear that question what is a senator, you are banking on the benefit of the doubt that you give to a seated senator in office to say this is somebody who should be trusted and he was trying to help, not only his residential

geographic constituents but this person who has similar interests as constituents. >> so sooner probably rather than later get a verdict. we'll have coverage of that. another issue cnn reporting that michael flin the president's short national security adviser that his son could be caught up in robert mueller investigation. very worried about that. explain the legal ramifications. >> well, he should probably be concerned because, again, he is faci facing flynn the same that manafort did with respect to different country, financial disclosures, in terms of turkey rather than in the ukraine. and you have this thought before papadopoulos i think his concern would have been a little bit more tenuous. but now you have a lower level person who has been a part of a strategy perhaps to have these meetings. you have the former chief of staff michael flynn son of his own organization, somebody right

hand man attended the trip to moscow where michael flynn was shown next to putin in that infamous russian propaganda television footage. now you have the concern someone who may have made false statements to an investigator may also face the same scrutiny and legal wrath as the bigger figures in this case. although michael flynn junior has talked about this in dismissive terms i'll be happy people realize i'm not going to go to jail in this case. but the concerns are valid. >> you are a former federal prosecutor. sometimes prrs osecutors, as yo know, they go after a loved one to excuse their prime target, in this case presumably michael flynn. >> yeah, you have better bait than someone own son facing ramifications. not talking about the allegiance during people during a campaign. talking about a relationship that has consequences in entire

family. so i think that's more appealing bait to use. bull remember of the game of big fish we have the national security adviser, the campaign chairman, deputy campaign chairman. michael flynn junior, papadopoulos, lower runnig on t toe tem pole but could be used as potential bait. >> and has excellent lawyers. they are working hard right now. >> respondent and remember michael flynn asked for immunity last year he was willing to talk and tell his story, according to his attorney. so you have to think when he was denied that immunity, what they were looking for and other things to try to convince him to be cooperative. >> we'll watch this closely as well. thanks very much laura. excellent analysis. coming up senate republicans details of new tax plan. live to capitol hill. plus the type of fall from grace on house of cards but for kevin spacey no escaping sexual

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here we go breaking news at the top of the hour on cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. any minute now senate republicans are going to overhaul the tax system. now getting some of the details coming out of what could be in that bill. we'll get you capitol hill and get into those details in just a moment. but all of this is happening while pressure on the republican party could not be higher. republicans see their majority rule at stake after seeing major election losses in state and local races this week. exit polls indicate not