4:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast. we're following the breaking news this hour here on cnn. arguably, one of the most successful moments for the u.s. president on tax reform and one of the worst days with a member of his inner circle pleading guilty in the russia investigation. i'm george howell at cnn world headquarters in atlanta. welcome to viewers here in the united states and around the world. first to tax reform. just hours ago, the u.s. senate passed a major overhaul of the u.s. tax code on a vote of 51-49. on almost strictly party line

vote. after a string of high profile failures in congress, the vote marked the first legislative win for the trump administration and for the republicans who lost -- who control, rather, the congress. but that victory over-shadowed by a seismic shift in the russia investigation. focus on the former president's national security adviser, michael flynn. flynn pleaded guilty. you see him here leaving court there. pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi in the probe of russian election meddling on friday. with this, flynn is now the fourth trump campaign official to be caught up in this investigation. so far, and the second to plead guilty. so fair to say, a lot to talk about today. let's now listen to that moment just hours ago that moment when the tax bill passed through the u.s. senate. >> on this vote, the yeas '51. and the nays are 49.

the tax cuts and jobs act as amended is passed. >> the vice president of the united states, mike pence, providing there. president donald trump tweeted his congratulations saying the this, we are one step closer to delivering massive tax cuts for working families across america. special thanks to senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and chairman sneer orrin hatch for shepherding our bill through the senate. he adds he looks forward to signing a final bill before christmas. cnn's phil mat theingly has b ms been at capitol hill overmight. >> they are now on the brink of huge, senate voting 51-49 to pass the republican tax overall plan. that means both the house and the senate have passed their own

versions of this. it's one step closer to be signed into law, to being sen to the president's desk and becoming that major legislative achievement of 2017. democrats very opposed to this tax plan from the beginning, unify in their opposition on the floor and furious about the process, a process that led senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to know he had the votes at 10:00 a.m. on friday morning and still not release the bill until 8:00 p.m. later that day. democrats waiving legislative tax, happened writing, making substantive changes, saying they hadn't seen the bill. take a listen. >> is this how you envisioned passing such a large legislative -- >> this was done through the regular order. the democrats had plenty of notice. chairman hatch can attest to all the multiple hearings, markups, open amendment process. everybody had plenty of opportunity to see the measure.

you complain about process when you're losing. and that's what you heard on the floor tonight. >> now, guys, that isn't the final step. the senate still has to take another vote. so does the house. right now, both chambers will have to reconcile their bills which have significant difference necessary various parts, but the framework of the two is the same. if you talk to officials, they believe the senate was by far the biggest hurdle. they are on the right path. it's only just a matter of time. like anything else, things can spin out of control very quickly in the legislative process, particularly something so complicated as taxes. however, keep in mind, they have done this, both the house and the senate, in a matter of weeks. it is very clear they are on the pathway to sending this to the president's desk likely by the end of the year. phil mattingly, cnn, capitol hill. and the other big story we're following this day, the ongoing investigation into russian meddling in the presidential election. moscow has always dismissed it

and michael flynn's guilty plea on friday hasn't changed that view. according to russian meade ya, one russian politician said flynn was just a scapegoat. another called the situation a sack of smoke. but flynn's legal predicament is serious and could face years in prison. we get the very latest now from cnn's jim sciutto. >> the ongone russia investigation has reached president trump's inner most circle. trump's former national security adviser, michael flynn, said he is cooperating with the special counsel's probe into possible cooperation between the trump campaign and the russian government. flynn pled guilty to repeatedly lying to the fbi, including making false statements about his 2016 conversations with russia's then ambassador to the u.s. sergey kislyak. according to the statement of offense, flynn lied when he told the fbi he does not discussion

sanctions with kislyak on the same day that president obama expelled diplomates from the u.s. and boosted sanctions on moscow in retaliation for russia's meddling in the russian election. flynn sought russia's help to block a u.n. security council vote that the obama the administration was abstaining on. the white house said, quote, nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than mr. flynn. however, court documents make clear that flynn was not acting alone. according to prosecutors, flynn communicated with senior members of the president's transition team about the conversations and in at least one with case was directed by transition officials to reach out to russia. cnn has learned that the president's son-in-law, jared kushner, is the very senior member of the presidential team identified in court documents. kushner directed michael flick to contact the russian

ambassador and others regarding the vote on israeli settlements. this according to settlements pam with the matter. flynn's guilty plea belies the president's claims no one had contact with russia. >> in your view, has the president lied? >> abundantly and frequently and in just about every way. but most significant in denying that this happened, saying it's a hoax. >> after the court proceeding, flynn went immediately to the home of his season, michael flynn jr. michael flynn jr. was center to michael flynn sr. he is not mentioned, not charged in any of these documents and it raises the question whether cooperation for flynn was in exchange partly for protecting

his son. jim sciutto, cnn, washington. >> jim, thank you for the reporting, as well. as far as flynn's guilty plea, the white house has been largely silent. one source telling cnn the president and his staff are in denial about the seriousness of the investigation. and the source saying they are, quote, totally in a bubble. jim acosta picks it up from here. >> on michael flynn being indicted, sir? can you comment on michael flynn being indicted? >> president trump was silent when asked about michael flynn being guilty to lying to investigators about the retired general's contacts with russian ambassador sergey kislyak. but once again, those inside the white house are shielding mr. trump from the statement. a former obama administration official. the statement adds flip's false statements mirror the false

statements to white house officials which resulted in his resignation in february on of this year. nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implications anyone other than mr. flynn. >> we discussed a lot of different situations, swh wonderful and some difficulty. >> the white house statement ignores the fact that obama warned the incoming president to stay away from flynn in the oval office two days after the election. nine days before he was sworn into office, mr. trump refused cnn's attempts to ask whether his campaign had contact with the russians before the election. >> mr. president-elect, can you give us a -- don't be rude. you are fake news. the next month, the president defended flynn's contacts with the russians. mike was doing his job. he was calling countries and his counterparts. so it certainly would have been okay with me if he did it. i would have directed him to do it if i thought he wasn't doing it. that's his job. >> the president went on to suggest there were no contacts

during the campaign. russia is a ruse. i have nothing to do with russia. to the best of my knowledge, no person that i deal with does. flynn, who repeatedly led chants of lock her up about hillary clinton -- >> we do not neat a reckless president who believes she is above the law. lock her up. that's right. >> spoke with ambassador kislyak during the transition, but transition officials never mention that flynn spoke to the ambassador about new administration sanctions against russia. the. >> call centered around the logistics of setting up a call with the president of russia and the president-elect after he was sworn in and they exchanged logistical information on how to initiate and schedule that call. that was it, plain and simple. former fbi director james comey

said the president encouraged him to drop the case. >> drop any situation connecting flynn's conversations with the russians. >> the president tweeted in march, mike flynn should ask for immunity and that this is a witch-hunt, excuse for big election loss by media and dems. when paul manafort was indicted with along with a guilty plea from george papadopoulos , the president tweeted the fake news is working overtime. and few people knew the young volunteer knew george who has already proven to be a liar. >> they can't distance themselves from president trump's national security adviser who has acknowledged a crime. >> and a senior white house official claimed the obama

administration authorized flynn's conversation with kislyak, but a former obama administration told cnn that claim from the trump white house is, quote, laughable. jim acosta, cnn, the white house. let's bring in troy sladen, troy, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor joining us us from los angeles. let's talk about this legally. mr. flynn has pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi. it is described to have a good deal for him, all things considered, which leads to the question now is there there an expectation that mr. flynn has a story to tell? absolutely. both by the terms of the plea dealist as well as general flynn's public statement. and he had a lot of criminal exposure. each count of highing to the if fbi carries with it a maximum of five years in federal prison. now, what they did was they

combined the four lies into one count, which means though rhetorically he faces maximum of five years in prison. but if he cooperates and if he does everything that he says he's going to do, then the special council's office will make a sentencing recommendation when that time comes and it's likely that he could do no swral at all. from a prosecutorial perspective, is there a sense that mikan flynn swrjr., mr. flynn's son, that somehow he was a part of his father deciding to cooperate here? >> prosecutors use whatever leverage they have. certainly it's been reported that a general flynn's son had potential criminal exposure himself. he was chief of staff for general flynn. so anything that a prosecutor can use, turn the screws and get a target to cooperate, they're going to do it. and general flynn was a big

fish. he was intimately involved in both the campaign and the early days of the trump administration. >> so let's take about how this might play forward. are these bread and butter prosecutors just focused on lying to the fbi or could they possibly use the logan act? for our viewers around the world, it's an obscure law, 218 years old that hasn't been invoked in modern history. help us understand that law and whether you feel it could come into play here. >> the logan act hasn't really been tested in modern times. there are many constitutional scholars that feel it may very well be unconstitutional. and it basically stands for the proposition that there's only one administration at a time and that if you're not a representative of the united states government, that you're not entitled to conduct foreign

policy. so the allegation here is that flynn, in speak background the sanctions, asking them to not taking any action and to delay a u.n. vote that was coming at the time, that the incoming administration, the trump administration was conducting foreign policy before they took the helm, before the inauguration. and so that could be a theoretical violation of the logan act, but that's not what is being alleged here. and even that, even if there was to be an allegation that the logan act was violated, that doesn't go to the heart of what the special counsel was constituted for, which is to look at whether or not the trump campaign was colluding with russia in order to defeat hillary clinton and get donald trump elected. >> troy sladen, we appreciate

your time today and perspective on this. we'll take in touch. thank you. >> thanks for having me. the trump administration scored its first major legislative win within 24 hours of the worst news in the russian probe. peaks and valleys. we'll break it down for you as "cnn newsroom" pushes on. cedric, i couldn't even bowl with my grandkids 'cause of the burning, shooting pain in my feet. i hear you, sam. cedric, i couldn't sleep at night

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we do not need a reckless president who believes she is above the law. lock her up. that's right. yes, theater. lock her up. >> that was mr. flynn, a sounds that wases are national to many people back in july of 2016. that happened the at the republican convention. then there was this on friday. listen. the video there, you don't hear it, but the natural sound on that video, you hear someone saying lock him up. from the russia investigation to the republican tax reform in the

senate, it has been a day of highs and lows, to say the very least. to talk all about this, let's bring in professor of politics at city on of university of london energy parmar. it's always a pleasure to have you on the show to make sense of all this. what a day. let's talk about the optics of this day. on the one hand, a member of the president's inner circle pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi signaling quite frankly that he will cooperate with the special counsel. on the other hand, the president had arguably one of his best moments as tax reform passes through the u.s. senate, which over-shadows the other. which is bigger in your mind? >> well, i would say probably the tax cut to the very, very wealthy and the effective tax rise to the working and middle chas people. i'd say that's the bigger, much longer term question, but clearly, the flynn issue is a major sort of immediate source of political crisis intensifying, as well.

but i think the tax cut actually is going to have the longer term impact on the shape of society, on the shape of the american state and the role of big corporations and the wealthy. i think that will bleed into the politics and the political agenda in the longer run, as well. >> well, will this be a piece of legislation that will span for decades as it's been described. democrats criticize the process, how this came about, they criticize the substance saying it adds to the deficit, that it will raise taxes on individuals in the long-term while corporate taxes will remain constant. republicans, though, they have a different take on it. they say this is the president living up to his campaign promise that he cut taxes here. how will all of this play out in the midterms? >> well, i think it all depends, really, on republican voters. and it looks like from the polls that 59% to 60% of republican voters support this tax bill. a quarter of them say they don't

know anything about it. but i think when people start feeling it in their pockets, and that may be a year or two away, possibly a little bit longer, the big issue is -- and that has been the case through the campaign and through this first year of the administration -- is to what extent republican voters stand solidly behind president trump. and it seems to me that he appears to be attacking people's financial position, but on the other hand, he has stored up -- he has shored up their sense of national identity, of racial identity, of gender identity and so on. so i think he's waged a campaign against what they would call political correctness in a variety of ways and i think that cycled the wage of being a strong white man in the white house. i think that is going to be quite significant. and it's quite frankly the case that president trump remains very popular amongst republican voters and the republican leadership remains deeply

unpopular. so i think this is some kind of a major shift in the character of the republican party and i think trump and bannon and others are probably in the driving seat right now. >> now, with regards to michael flynn's guilty plea, the white house is saying this is simply a matter for mr. flynn and it has nothing to do with the president and the president and his teams aren't worried. but here is the question to you. should they be? >> they should definitely be worried on one level. that is that this probe is now getting into the dinner circle, members of the family of donald trump i'd say jared kushner is probably next because he had a number of -- i think he directed a number of the phone calls and i think there has been been much reported. one ofs those calls he think was at the behest of israel regarding what appears a likely vote condemning israel on the

u.n. security council for illegal settlements on the west bank which the on oh bat bbama administration said they would not veto. so this is not just about russia. it's also about israel. donald trump remains more popular than the republican leadership and what are they going to do about it if he is found to be closely involved? they're going to impeach him. i doubt that because it's a political decision. and i think any decision of that type is going to put them in jeopardy far more than probably president trump. >> it will be interesting to see how all of this moves about. again, an investigation taking place, the midterms around the corner looking at the next year, a lot of moving parts. thank you for your insight today. this is "cnn newsroom." still ahead, reaction from russia. we will hear from the magz at the center of the u.s. investigation into meddling ahead.

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years. on the other side of the token, former senior white house official michael flynn has pleaded guilty on friday, guilty to lying to the fbi about his contacts last year with russian officials. flynn was fired as national security adviser back in february, but he is now cooperating with the investigation into russian election meddling in 2016. german police locked down a christmas market in pottsdam near berlin. it was delivered to a nearby pharmacy and police are investigating who sent it. last december, 12 people were killed when a tractor-trailer hit a crowd at a christmas market in berlin. so far, only a few russian politicians are saying anything about what happened here in the united states. michael flynn pleading guilty. for the most part, the kremlin is silent about the former national security adviser and his contact with the russian ambassador. let's get straight to positive

cow to get reaction from cnn's claire sebastian following this story. claire, a pleasure to have you at this hour. with let's talk about this. what are you hearing? reaction from the kremlin, from politicians about the seismic shift we saw today in the states. >> yeah. no reaction from the kremlin. what does this have to do with us and referring me to previous comments by the foreign minister and deputy foreign minister here. i will say the russian side has maintained all along the kremlin and indeed former ambassador kiss will kislyak so perhaps so lens is tactical today. but as you said, we have heard from some politicians speaking out on this.

one senator saying to the state news agency that michael flynn was frankly just the one they caught. he said, quote, the maybe object of this attack is donald trump. another tweeting that the u.s. is, as he said, continuing to inflate a sack of smoke. he called the flynn case quite empty. so denials and dismissals and silence. >> what is russia's version of the conversation between flynn and kislyak? how did it go and what was discussed? how is that interpreted there? >> well, as i said, they have said all along that sanctions weren't discussed. kislyak speaking to state media back in august said there were no secrets, there was nothing -- it was all very simple. there were a few issues that were discussed that were relevant to both sides like terrorism. the kremlin for its part has maintained that sanctions

weren't discussed. but make no mistake, these revelations in flynn's statement are hugely significant from moscow, the revelation that the then russian ambassador sergey kislyak directed the decision not to retaliate sanctions with his conversations to michael flynn not only shows moscow acting on a conversation with a transition team, a government not yet in power, but it shows a calculation frankly back fired that they perhaps expected sanctions to be lifted if they didn't retaliate. we now know that not only has that not happened, but new sanctions from the u.s. are set to come into force. and as we saw back over the summer, russia did end up eventually retaliating dramatically, reducing the size of the u.s. diplomatic mission here in moscow. so the back drop, george, is one of a deteriorating relationship rather than the hope for reset. >> claire sebastian live for us in moscow, thanks.

the white house would like to dismiss michael flynn's plea deal as much ado about nothing or even a victory for the president. the truth is that the robert mueller's investigation has now breached the inner circle of the trump white house. cnn security analyst lisa monaco who once served as the chief of staff explains why the president and his closest allies should be worried. >> what's going on here is you've got an individual who is near or at the -- almost to the top of the type of pyramid that prosecutors work there way up when they're looking at a complex investigation like this one is. and prosecutors have a -- which is that you don't cooperate people down. you only go up. here you've got flynn who is clearly cooperating with the special counsel and the other thing that prosecutors do is they will only take this type of plea and make this type of

cooperation deal if they are very confident that this individual, the defendant, can actually offer something quite substantial up the chain. because if not, they would just throw the book at him. >> that's exactly right. .here, you've got insight from somebody who is a political figure in the campaign, in the transition, and in the beginning days of the white house, of the trump administration. so he can provide insight a whole host of discussions and events going from the campaign to the early days of the white house and he can be that guide for the prosecutors as they're working there way up that pyramid. >> i want to ask you, i talked to a republican former prosecutor earlier today and this person told me that he thinks this plea deal means in exchange for flynn's son not being charged, michael flynn jr., and for him not being charged with more serious crimes, flynn is expected to

help with more serious crimes. and as you said, if i were kushner or bannon, i wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. >> the papers filed today are quite narrow and quite limited, but they give us a few clues. there's references to to senior transition officials and very senior transition officials that flynn had discussions with as he was having these conversations with ambassador kislyak. that is going to help the prosecutors formulate their next series of moves and this leverage point that your source talked to you about is one that prosecutors use all the time. they've got -- this is a -- this is a seriously strong hand that mueller clearly is playing. >> jake tapper there with a conversation with lisa monaco. jake, thank you. still ahead, pope francis faces criticism for not saying the word rohingya in myanmar.

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at this hour, james mattis, u.s. defense secretary, is in egypt for talks there. it's his first stop on a five-day trip through middle east and pakistan. the goal is to reaffirm the u.s. commitment for its partnership through the region. he'll then head to jordan to attend a meeting on countering violence in west africa. he finish wes a stop in pakistan and in the kuwait. north korea took to the streets of popping yang on friday celebrating the country's missile launch, an act of defiance against the united states. thousands of people were treated to fireworks in a show of honor of the latest launch.

they launched an intercontinental ballistic missile. it flew higher, longer than previous missiles before crashing into the waters off japan. pope francis has finally used a word that he's not used in his trip so far, the word rohingya. in bangladesh on prosecute friday, he said this. quote, the presence of god today is also called rohingya, end quote. he also met with members of the persecuted ethnic group. many of the rohingya have escaped brutal violence in myanmar. the pope was criticized for not using that word, for not naming rohingya publicly. the flight of the rohingya dominated his tour, but pope francis was attending other events. this was the scene hours ago when he visited a church in bangladesh. now on to football news, the draw has been made for next year's fifa world cup in russia.

there are some exciting matchups in store. spain .portugal, for instance, they're set to face off in group b pitting ronaldo against some of his old teammates. iceland will take on messi and argentina. still ahead here, the biggest issue facing the planet, it is unfolding at a much faster rate than people could imagine. rising oceans and their catastrophic impact. stay with us. (male #1) it's a little something

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell. no matter what religious views people hold, climate change ultimately affects everyone on this planet. the fact is, on oceans around the world are rising due to rapid glaciers. in part two of her he cnn report, klarissa ward visits places in the u.s. where the impact is already being felt. ♪

>> reporter: it's been a year of hurricanes pummeling, floods rising and wildfires raging. so what exactly is going on? in part one, we traveled all the way to the arctic. which scientists call the world's refrigerator. we found that as temperatures rise due to carbon emissions in the atmosphere, the greenland ice sheet, the largest in the northern hemisphere, is melting at an unprecedented rate, causing oceans to rise. this is one of the most unique and surreal environments on earth. to many people, it probably looks like another planet. but make no mistake, what is happening to the ice beneath my feet here is already having an impact on coastal cities all around the world.

now we've come back to the united states to see that impact up close. starting in miami beach. this buzzing city in the sunshine state feels a long way from the icy glaciers of greenland. but as the ice sheet has melted, global sea levels have climbed 8 inches since the beginning of the last century. miami, in part due to local climate factors, has become known as ground zero in the u.s. with nearly a foot of sea level rise. former miami beach mayor phil levine likes to jump that he floated into office by making this the main plank of his campaign. about five or six years ago, we would notice that during sunny days, the water would come up. beautiful day out and the roads would become flooded in the western parts of our city with the lowest lying areas of our

city. that was unnerving for residents, investors and everybody. >> the city is spending a whooping $500 million building up sea walls and raising roads. measures levine said helped protect miami during the ferocious hurricane irma. >> i actually believe these -- we call these abnormal unusual once in a century storms. that's not the case. this is the new normal. we were very fortunate in miami beach. the areas that we had invested in, raised roads, put in pump webs during that hurricane, they were as dry as the sahara. >> houston was not so lucky. more than 80 people were killed after hurricane harvey dumped a mind boggling 50 inches of rein on the city. the same amount normally expected in a year. scientists say some of that water should have been frozen in the greenland ice sheet. >> there's a saying that goes, what happens in the arctic

doesn't stay in the arctic. it's absolutely true. >> michael mann has testified before congress about the threat posed by climate change. is there a direct connection between the intensity of the hurricanes that we're seeing and climate change? >> there is a direct connection. and too often we hear the problem framed as did climate change cause this storm? did it cause this hurricane? that's not the right way to think about it. the question is, is climb change amplifying the impacts of these hurricanes? and it absolutely is. >> mann explains that as arctic ice, the world's refrigerator has melted, that has accelerated the overall warming of the planet. the world's oceans have warmed by more than one degree fahrenheit and as the ocean surface heats, it allows more moisture into the atmosphere, making hurricanes like harvey and irma stronger with more

potential to flood. the vast majority of climate scientists agree that without significant cuts to carbon emissions, temperatures will continue to climb and the problem will only get worse. >> the analogy i like to use, we're stepping out on to a minefield and we don't know exactly where those mines are. but we know as we set them off, we're going to see catastrophic impacts. >> and norfolk, virginia, knows that better than most. since 2003, enough ices has melted off greenland to fill committees peek bay 50 times. that melt water is the main contributor to the more than 14 inches of sea level rise here in the last century. it may be fun for the kids, but it is a real concern for residents like kate melhish. >> so how how does it water get here? >> so far, the water has come to

just here, which is eight feet. i mean, we're talking a few more inches and it's coming into the house. >> exactly, yes. that's our worry, right. that must be a big worry. >> huge. >> flooding now consumes her neighborhood up to ten times a year. during high tides or after a big storm. >> we moved that wrought iron outside furniture indoors and put the sofa up on them and move everything that's soft up to the second floor. take all the books off bookcases and -- so you devised a drill by now. exactly. >> mel bought her dream home here 35 years ago. but since then, the water and flood insurance prices have soared. >> i gave my husband waders for christmas. >> very practical. >> it is. >> does he get good use out of them? >> he sure does, yeah. >> let me ask you this. if you had known when you bought

this house everything that would come with it in terms of the tides, the floods, the power outages, would you maybe have looked for somewhere else to live? >> maybe. but it really was my dream house and it always has been. so -- but i can certainly see it becoming unlivable. and that does worry me. >> for norfolk, the problem has added significance. it hosts the largest naval base in the country. sailors are coming home from long deployments to a base threatened by encroaching seas. made worse by natural phenomena that caused the land here to sink. this base is uniquely vulnerable to sea level rise. and that potentially makes it a very expensive headache for the military. the to replace just one of these piers would cost roughly $100 million.

ray may havis is the former secretary of the navy. >> if we don't arrest sea level rise, if we don't reverse this or slow it down, norfolk is going to disappear. that naefl base will tnaval bas under water. i represent the navy. our bases tend to be on the ocean. you're going to see these bases being more and more at risk. >> so it sounds like you're saying climate change does not only have an impact on national security, that it's vitally important to national security. >> it's one of the biggest risks we have in national security. it's one of the things we've got to plan for, the most in national security. but america has been slow to wake up to the threat posed by climate change. in part because it has become a politically charged issue with the trump administration actively dismantling legislation

by president obama to curb the use of fossil fuels. >> does it frustrate you at all that this has become a political issue? >> this notion that climate change is a partisan issue is just nuts. you can see it happening. you can see it out there. and when the military is telling you in unequivocal terms this is happening, it's having an impact on us as a military, but it's having an impact on this country in security terms, to not listen to that is just foolishness in the the highest order. >> it's a sentiment phil levine shares. well, it's a little ridiculous. can you imagine debatingty and the theory of relativity and all the other proven theorys? the ocean is not republican or democrat, it just knows how to rise and i think we have to

understand that quickly. >> so what can be done? most scientists agree that koshon emissions need to be cut to zero within the next two decades to stop temperatures rising to much too dangerous levels. >> is it too late? >> it's not too late. the good news is it's not too late. the laws on of physics tell us there's still time to prevent catastrophic warming. the only obstacle is our will, our will power. the changes that are happening in america and the challenges they present are real. the question is, what will we do? klarissa ward, cnn. >> that is a look at your news from around the globe. i'm george howell here t cnn center in atlanta. the news continues here on cnn right after the break. stay with us.

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>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. 5:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast. we're following the breaking news this hour here on cnn. a dramatic day of highs and lows for the u.s. president. first, success with tax reform on one hand. and on the other, the looming pressure. russia investigation ratcheting up. i'm george howell out of cnn world headquarters in atlanta. welcome to viewers here in the united states and around the world. let's look at tax reform first. it happened just hours ago in the middle of the night here in the united states, and perhaps