find your awesome, and change the way you wifi. the tax cuts and johns act as amended is passed. >> this is a momentous occasion for the republican party. >> it's something that literally will help millions and millions of young people in our society. >> here's the bill as it's written. here's the modifications that are in it. i can read one word. it's called "add this language." can you tell me what that word is? >> flynn pled guilty to repeatedly lying to the fbi. >> this guilty plea an acknowledgement of criminal culpability is a shattering motel for the trump presidency. >> this is a devastating event for the white house.

>> i think we should wait until we see all of the facts and all the evidence before coming to a final judgment. >> i'm just going to make this as plain as possible to the cnn viewers. when one of the main home boys turn snitch, a bunch of people about to go to jail. ♪ this is "new day weekend" with victor blackwell and christi paul. >> good morning to our viewers here in the u.s. and hello to everyone joining us around the world. we're starting with breaking news on capitol hill. that early morning vote after a tumultuous friday for president trump. >> yeah, we have a live look for you right now over washington, where after hours of debate, last-minute changes, one republican holdout, the senate did pass its version of major tax reform. and president trump already praising the vote on twitter. >> the democrats are slamming the gop saying the process was done in secret and rush. some senators waving parts of

the bill around showing handwritten changes made to the bill late last night. now, despite those criticisms it's an important victory for president trump who promised to give americans a huge tax cut for christmas. >> hanging over it is this serious development in the russia investigation, a guilty plea where the national security adviser admits lied to the fbi. a recap of the highs and lows, cnn's abby philip live outside of the because. first of all, abby, let's talk about the latest tweet from the president. >> reporter: that's right, christi, the president apparently waking up a happy man this morning. he just tweeted a few moments ago saying biggest tax bill and tax cuts in history just passed in the senate. now, these great republicans will be going to final passage. thank you for senate house

republicans for your hard work. this coming from a president who as you know has not always had the best relationship with his fellow republicans on the hill but last night, very early this morning, they delivered to him on a crucial promise. also giving him a big win on a day that he was battling some really bad news on the russia investigation front. his former national security adviser michael flynn pleading guilty to lying to the fbi. that investigation is coming closer and closer to him. but for now, the president is taking solace in this really important moment for his presidency. they're not all the way to the finish line yet. but they will be soon. the bill pass the last night with not too much fanfare, but they had some back and forth between mitch mcconnell and chuck schumer over the process. take a listen to some of the back and forth here. >> as you notice, at the end, there was not a single democrat who thought this was a good idea.

and, so, we're going to take this message to the american people also. a year from now. >> we understand they have the votes to pass their bill. despite a process and a product that no one can be proud of. and everyone should be ashamed of. >> reporter: now, the senate and the house need to reconcile their bills. but as soon as they do that, it will head to the president's desk and he's hoping to sign it before christmas, victor and christi. >> abby philip, thanks for walking us through it. and this sets up for a conversation with ron brownstein and senior editor for the atlantic good morning to you. >> good morning. >> margaret, let me start with you. the president is, as we said, celebrating the passage. i want to take the tax bill and tax cuts by themselves first. this is a big win for the president getting one now near the end of the year, a big

legislative win. what does this mean politically for the president at this difficult time in his administration? >> well, certainly, this is a political lifeline for the president and for the republican party heading into the midterms assuming this emerges from the conference committee, it's always theoretically possible something would trip this up. but the hardest part is most likely done which is getting approval on the senate side. and this would allow him to go into the midterms with at least one accomplishment, so to speak, when they weren't able to do the health care repeal. it also may give them a back doorway to do that individual mandate repeal that they weren't able to do on their own. but there are real questions on how it affects middle class family faa e families, the people it purports to help. >> and ron, to you, the president mentioned now they're going into final passage, this conference committee, they would have to reconcile the house version and senate version.

some significant differences here, are we expecting a protracted fight between the two chambers or will this move quickly? >> no, i think they've shown that they want to get this done. they fear failure enough that mare motivated to find common ground between them, look, normally, passing a tax cut politically is a slam dunk. this is more of a political gamble. you're looking at polling 2 to 1 opposed. 60% says it will again the rich at the dispense of the middle class. they're own score keeper saying it will increase the deficit by $1 trillion just as the baby boomers are moving into retirement. 60% of the benefits, top 1%. i think most critically, this departs from previous tax bills in am 81 and 2001 that unlike those bills it actually raises taxes on a lot of people. particularly in upper class and blue skates.

and republicans running in southern california, virginia, new york, in the 2018 election who will be asked why they were raising taxes on their own voters to consult taxes on people who are richer or in red state. it beats the alternative. as margaret was saying if this had failed the sense in congress of disarray would have been damaging but this is facing the analytical assessment of what it would mean. and it is by no means a sure winner, particularly in place where is it's of risk in the upper middle class and white suburbs. >> let's listen to paul ryan here. now of course, speaker of the house, but then chair of the subcommittee in 2013. this is what he said then. >> our debt is a threat to this country. we have to tackle this problem before it tackles us. the debt will weigh down the country like an anchor. in short, we're on the verge of a debt crisis.

>> and margaret, we could have picked from a long list of prominent house and senate republicans who have said this in years past. and now have voted for these two versions of tax reform. how do they reconcile this with their voters when they go back to their districts for their break? >> well, right now, most people don't actually understand what's in the legislation. but it does, the estimates say it will raise the deficit by more than $1 trillion and it will not pay for itself. republicans contest that and say, no, it really will pay for itself. but right now there's no math that shows that it will. broadly accepted there are desperate implications if you live in an expensive state in either coast which many republicans as well as democrats do. their implications if you rely on health care under the affordable care act this may help to collapse the system. but if you want to collapse the

system, it's fine. but if you rely on it, it's a real problem. and implications for student loan debt. and corporate tax is permanent. but people should know that the individual tax relief fund in this legislation is ten years. the not permanent. >> victor. >> yes. >> the debt points or eliminates the least understood aspects of this which is the generational implications of this bill. when you're adding 1 trillion or $1.5 trillion in debt, you're adding to the young who have to pay off the debt in the future. 8% of people under 35 make $100,000 or more. the net worth of people in their 50s is 15 times the average net worth of people in their 20s and 30s. this is a bill that benefits older america. older white america which is the base of the republican coalition and passes the bills on to kind of younger diverse america. and just one prediction you can

hold me to, if in fact they come back as next year, as they're suggesting and try to cut entitlement programs, retirement programs to help offset the cost of this bill -- first of all, it's a political risk -- but if they do it they will phase in the cuts that almost all of the baby boomers have retired before they go into effect. you could end up with younger generations paying off the tax bill and having their own retirement trenched. there are big generational implications to this that go to the desperate coalitions that each side has mobilized. >> the proponents say the answer is one word, growth, growth will -- >> the joint tax doesn't see it that way. >> the joint tax says over $400 billion will be generated by growth and still this $1 trillion hold by 2027. >> i mean, there is no model -- there are no analysis to support the assertions ofmen mcconnell

that it will pay for itself. and no one has produced a study that would claim that. >> well, we've got to see what happens out of this conference committee and to get to the president's desk by christmas. ron brownstein, margaret telev, thank you both. a lot of people wondering where the russia investigation is going as it seems to inch closer to the inner circle. michael flynn's guilty plea and lying to the fbi what he tells investigators. we'll have that legal conversation -- next.

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got flynn in trouble in the first place. cnn's chuf correspondent victim sciutto has that for us. >> reporter: the ongoing russia investigation has reempled president trump's innermost circle. trump's former national security adviser michael flynn said he's cooperating with the special council probe into possible cooperation between the trump campaign and the russia government. flynn pled guilty to repeatedly lie to get fbi including makes false statements about this december 2016 controversies 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 did not discuss sanctions with kislyak. on the same day that president obama expelled russian diplomats from the u.s. and boosted sanctions on moscow in retaliation for russia's meddling in the presidential election. flynn also sought russia help during the transition to block a u.n. security council vote that

the obama administration was obtaining on. the white house said, devote, nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than mr. flynn. however, court documents made clear that flynn was not acting alone. according to prosecutors, palestinian communitied with senior members of the president's transition team about conversations and at least one instance 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 transition team identified in court documents. kushner directed michael flynn to contact the russian ambassador in other countries regarding the u.n. security council on israeli settlements. flynn's guilty me belies president trump's denials of any contacts or involvement with this campaign and russia. in your view has the president

lied about what communications his team had with russia? >> well abundantly and frequently and just about in every way. but most significant in denying that this happened, saying it's a hoax. >> reporter: after the court proceeding, flynn went immediately to the home of his son, michael flynn jr. michael flynn jr. central to michael flynn sr.'s thinking in the case. we reported that senior was concerned about the legal jeopardy his son might face. he's not mentioned, not charged in any of these documents. and it certainly raises the question as to whether cooperation from flynn was in exchange partly for protecting his son. jim sciutto, cnn, washington. michael zeldin, cnn legal analyst with us. as well as richard paint former white house ethics lawyer and professor. gentlemen, thank you both for being here. i want to start where jim left

off there. michael flynn was very loyal to the president. through this whole campaign. through his 24 days in office and even after it, it seems but family is family. michael, is it a possibility, when we look at flynn's intentions, that his intention is to save his son in some regard, or protect him? >> it would seem so. >> and can he? >> well, he can. if mueller agrees that the cooperation that flynn senior is giving is adequate that he doesn't feel that the needs of justice -- the administration of justice requires that his son plead guilty to something if in fact his son did something. there's no direct allegations against his son in the public domain. it relates mostly to the flynn intel group that he was a member of, that his father ran. and that relates to the nondisclosure of payments from foreign agents. but it's not yet clear what the

son did. but all indications are that flynn was trying to do a couple of things. one. minimize his exposure. theoretically he committed crimes that could get him 50 years' worth of exposure. he reduced that down to a five-year, to protect his son, so that he doesn't go to jail, he's got a young grandson. and two, to offer other aspects of the mueller investigation, most specifically the relationship between the campaign and russian surrogates. some z >> i want to ask to go from one son-in-law to the other. jared kushner. if it's testified that kushner directed him to make contact with the russians, he did say that, with everything that's happened to kushner up to this point, richard, why does he

still have this interim security clearance? >> well, because the president wants to let him have it. and the president just wants to do things his way. no other president would let him have it. no expert on national security and security clearances has agreed with the determination that heing out to ha ing ouingi a security clearance. the evidence is clear that jared kushner is not to be trusted. and i don't even know why he's even in the white house, much less have a security clearance. but that's the president job to make that decision. and he's making the decision his way if congress doesn't do their job an d removed president and tell the president of the united states to shape up or ship out, well, the president is going to do it his own way and let jared kushner have a clearance in the white house. >> let's listen to something

that senator ed markey said just last night, regarding the president and what he has to understand what he may do when it comes to michael flynn, perhaps that people have been talking about will there be a pardon here. let's listen. >> the president has to understand the consequences if he seeks to pardon michael flynn. because there will be an explosion, not just in the house and the senate, but all across this country because it will be clear that now that president is trying to engage in obstruction of justice to prevent this investigation from closing in on the oval office. >> michael, do you agree? >> well, it depends, i suppose is the honest answer. if flynn has already been in the grand jury and has offered his testimony that is what he would testify were there a trial or as it relates to the possible indictment of others, they may

already have the information that they need to render an indictment. and if there was a pardon, they do still use all of that testimony which they've gathered in the grand jury. so in legal terms, not 100% sure that a pardon would impact mueller's ability to proceed. in political terms, i think it would be very bad for the president because it would raise the question of whether he's abusing the powers of his office which could be an impeachable offense. >> i want to get your reaction to that as well, richard? >> well, i think that a pardon at this point would be perceived as an attempt to bribe general flynn and giving testimony that at least wouldn't implicate the president himself. and i think that would be unacceptable politically. the president would probably be impeached over that. he'd alsoen impeached if he tried to fire robert mueller,

that's really the great danger right now that he's going to try to pull the plug on this thing by firing robert mueller. it won't work and i think it would results in a removal in office but donald trump is very erratic and emotional in his response to this russia investigation which has made the situation much, much worse. >> all right. we appreciate you both being here, michael zeldin, richard painter, thank you for your perspectives. >> thank you. up next, the president's victory after a late-night vote narrowly passes the republican plan to overhaul the tax system. and a story that you'll hear in just a moment says that they're just repeating the mistakes of the past that caused the 1929 wall street crash. also, a mother's plea to learn more about her son's death after he's shot and killed by a chicago police officer. the answers cnn uncovered after a year-long investigation. ♪shostakovich playing ♪

from our family to yours... may all your wishes come true this holiday season.

so great to have you with us. 29 minutes pat hour. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor black belle. president trump is thanking members of congress after a 51 to 49 vote gets them closer to signing tax cuts in time for christmas. is it would be the first major win for this pled and fulfill a major campaign promise. >> it comes on the healings of what could be quite a blow to the white house. the news that national security adviser plans to cooperate with

robert mueller. flynn admitted to lying to the fbi about his contact with the ambassador. >> house speaker paul ryan is ready. he said this, i commend my senate colleagues for this historic action. for the first time since 1986 both the house and senate have passed a major overhaul of our nation's tax code but with that overhaul comes a $1.4 trillion deficit something that speaker ryan and others condemned in the past. joining us now, republican strategist evan siegfried. joseph borelli. and democratic strategist maria cardona, good morning. let's start with that number, $1.4 trillion, on taxation, a dynamic scoring, they took into account the potential economic

growth. they say that economic growth will account for $450 billion. but still, there will be this $1 trillion addition to the deficit within ten years. joseph, first to you, i imagine a supporter of the legislation that was passed just before 2:00 a.m. this morning. how is that fiscally conservative, fiscally responsible, reconcile that with what we heard from republicans before this administration and the support for this bill? >> well, a tax bill, i think, by definition is fiscally conservative. let's be clear a tax bill that reduces taxes is also by definition going to decrease the deficit. that's why i think you have people like president trump and paul ryan going out there and saying even before this bill was passed that looking at government spending has to be something that happens right after this tax bill is married with the senate house bill and signed by the president. >> maria, to you, many republicans even a couple we've

had on the show this morning asked where was this concern for deficits in the last eight years? during the obama administration, from democrats. to that, you say what? >> well, i mean, democrats have always been concerned with the deficit. but we've also been concerned about the well-being, the economic well-being of the working class and middle class voters. and this tax scam bill is something that say huge wet kiss to billionaires and millionaires like trump. and to wealthy corporations who get permanent tax cuts, by the way. while the individual tax cuts sun set over ten years. and according to every nonpartisan and objective analysis, victor, you mentioned two of them, it blows a huge hole in the deficit. and talk about hypocrisy, you know, you had paul ryan on earlier quoting himself saying that the deficit was a huge problem. well, what about now? it's not a huge problem now.

and what joseph's just said, i think indicates what the next move is here for republicans. once they pass this tax scam bill, they're going to now look at spending. what does that mean? they're going to look at social security. they're going to look at medicare. they're going to look at medicaid, all of these programs that working class and middle class families count on. so, in addition to their taxes going up in the next ten years, they're also going to see programs that are going to be cut. and so, again, this is a huge tax scam bill that hurts middle class and working class americans in the long run. and is a huge gift, wet kiss, to millionaires and billionaires and wealthy corporations who are making record profits and not investing them back into jobs. >> evan, let me come to you and lessons. past and with want to go back to 2010 midterms and that famous news conference from president obama at the time talking about the shellacking the democrats

took. that was soon after he signed into law the affordable care act. are republicans just a little too gleeful about passing this major legislation, looking ahead to the 2018 midterms? could they be facing what democrats faced in 2010 after they passed obamacare? >> irregardless of this bill, we're facing a steady and uphill climb. we saw that evidence in the 2017 elections in virginia and new jersey but in terms of what maria's talking about and how we want to go out and gut entitlements we need to do entitlement reforms because as a mill mental, i'm not going to see social security if it's not fixed because it will go bankrupt. and it's actually a tax increase on most americans. the salt reduction being eliminated a $72 billion tax increase on new yorkers. average oregonian is going to see $500 tax increase.

and it's an absolute scam, as maria said. the salt reduction being eliminate said terrible. at the same time, we've talked about being conservative, we talked about the debt and the dynamic score came out and said it still increases the deficit by $1 trillion. the president himself campaigned on the record defer sit. we're almost now at $22 trillion and i'm going to have to pay for that. joe's going to have to pay for that. not the president. but we just exploded the deficit. and we did not tackle the biggest problem of all which is washington's spending addiction. and we should have tackled that with this bill. >> let's talk about that, joseph. moving forward with what you suggested at the top, the spending cuts to come. donald trump said throughout the campaign said there will be no cuts to medicare, no cuts to medicaid, no cuts to social security. how can he make this to offset

the tax cuts and not touch any of those and keep that promise? you can't do both, can you? >> well, i think it's certainly something that will be difficult to do but at the end of the day, the congress has voted to waive sort of these pay as you go restrictions that have triggered some of these almost doomsday cuts off of social services in the past. and we saw that when president obama passed his stimulus bill in 2009 and raised the deficit actually slightly more than what president trump and the gop are talking about now. i think democrats should be a bit cops in the sense that they might actually get what they wished for, something which we haven't seen in a while, an emboldened gop congress that actually works to do some of the things that my good friend evan was talking about. about actually looking at some of the sacred cows of our government spending and reforming them. >> maria. >> here's something that people i think need to keep in mind. what republicans just passed, again, in a gop tax scam bill is

pure trickle down economics. and we have seen -- you know, these are not talking points. let's look at history. >> it's also a term that gary cohen himself used in pitching the bill. >> the last two republican presidents did this. and the last two republican presidents ended up with huge economic meltsdowns. and what did it take to fix those economic meltdowns? democratic presidents who understood fairness. who understood that the rich and wealthy corporations can and should pay more. and should pay their fair share and that working class and middle class americans are the ones who deserve a tax break. they're the last ones who were the ones who brought the economy back. under the last two democratic presidents we saw increase in jobs. we saw economic expansion understand the last two republican presidents, we saw economic meltdowns. we saw huge job losses. so, right there, history is our

teacher. and we're going back down to trickle down economics. you can't really look at one fair economic analysis that says that this tax scam bill is something that would work long term for the economy and would actually balance the budget and does exactly the opposite. >> conference committee is up next. we'll see how the house and senate will rec son style the two pieces of legislation that each chambers passed. and heads off to the president's desk. of thank you all. >> thank you so much. well, the tax pack amount to boost business as the stock market keeps rising as they were just talking about here, we've got a historian who says we have seen this before. and what happened next was not pretty, he's going to walk us through history. stay close. as you can clearly see, the updates you made to your plan strengthened your retirement score. so, that goal you've been saving for, you can do it. we can do this?

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we, the runaway stock market, a tax bill pitch as a way to boost business and help the middle class all cheered on by the white house. i know it sounds like what happened this weeks but a hiflt torn has seen this before. back in 1929, robert mcel vewais the author of "great depression of america." robert, thank you for being with us. we appreciate your time. i want to read what you had quoted here. i'm wondering if you're predicting actually another great depression, because you said in 1929, the crash followed a decades of republican control of the federal government. you talk about trickle downeconomics, so to speak. but is what you're seeing happening overnight that we've seen in the last several hours, the beginning of what you had

studied from 1929? >> well, if anything, this tax tax [ indiscernible ] >> i so apologize. we're obviously having a technical issue with the audio. we can't hear. i'm sure, robert, we can't hear you fully. i apologize for that. all of those technical glitch it's one of those things on live tv that we can't control. we're going to take a quick break and see if we can't readjust. we'll be right back. ah, but i may as well try and catch the wind♪ our mission is to make off-shore wind one of the principle new sources of energy.

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almost three years ago, nine-year-old rashad macintosh was killed by a chicago police officer. his mother did not think the details of her son's death made sense. and she wanted answers. >> cnn's melissa flores spent year going over it. and the human side of things we don't see on tv. the waiting at the morgue. the bearing of a child. look at this. >> reporter: there are still many answers left unanswered about rashad's death. the only thing that we know for sure is that a teenager is dead and his mother won't sleep well for a long, long time. >> that son of yours is

something else, that he reminds me so much of you. we'll keep fighting until i get justice for you. >> cnn's rosa flores joins us now to talk more about the reporting. so, what did you learn that really stuck with you, because this is important. >> you know, we usually cover officer-involved shootings. an we usually just cover the actual shooting. well, we really dug deep, but unintentionally. because what started this investigation was a phone call from this woman with horrific photographs of her son postmortem. and after looking at those photographs, we couldn't stop. we couldn't stop digging, trying to find out what happened to her son. those clues then led us into looking into the police investigation. take a look.

>> reporter: about a year ago, i got a phone call from a woman who asked me to investigate a story. this happens all the time where i work. >> good morning, this is rosa from cnn, how are you? how you have been? the woman's name is cynthia lane. in the summer of 2014, her son rashad was shot and killed by a police officer. >> rashad, he's on his knees with his hands in the air, begging police don't shoot me, don't shoot me. he shot him anyway. >> reporter: but the story doesn't begin when the shots are fired. this story begins a few days after at the funeral home. it's about 5:30 and cynthia is just -- >> i'm exhausted. it's hot outside. >> reporter: she had asked for an open casket for her son and had been shopping for ail short-sleeve shirt for him to wear. but the funeral director tells

her -- >> she can't wear a short sleeved shirt, baby. i don't know what the hell they were looking for on your baby. he said, they -- they butchered him like he was an animal. >> reporter: cynthia says the funeral director was so worried about her, he wouldn't let her look at her son's body. he would only let her sister take photos. before you see them, i have to warn you, they are extremely graphic. >> rosa, what you do with this piece, and we've all been reporters out talking with mothers who have lost a child. >> yeah. >> sitting in that living room, it is difficult to relay the emotion, the pain to people at home. ath and you do that in this piece. >> we really do, we talk to her extensively. this is her story. this is her fight to find out

what happened to her son. she wanted to know and she couldn't get answers. so she called an organization like cnn who has the resources. we have the know how to dig torsion figure oto figure out, to connect dots. that's what she wanted. she wanted the truth to come out. she wanted justice to have a chance. and that's what we explore. we also talked to other mothers, what i didn't learn, but i learned after this process what mothers go through after an officer-involved shooting. the fact that they don't get to see their son's bodies. they don't get to see them at the hospital. they don't get to see them at the morgue. they only get to see them after. at the funeral home. it's extremely painful, i think we can all relate to a loved one, not being able to say good-bye. not able to touch your loved one. i don't have children but imagine being a mother and not being able to say good-bye to your child.

>> there's something about being a parent and losing a child and not getting those answers that has to be excruciating every single day. how is she now? >> you know, she's still hoping for answers. there's a federal lawsuit that she has filed. we found some answers for her. i won't give up the ending of it. >> right, right. >> of this documentary because it's a three-episode documentary on cnn.com and cnngo. but we uncovered certain things that she was very grateful. and there's new light on this case now. because of this investigation. and she feels that she might be able to get a fair shake. >> yeah. i think it's informative for people, like you said, just a moment ago, after we cover the shooting and hear from both sides, what then happens to that family? what then happens in those, as it's been described to me, a silence that they have never felt or experience when that

loved one is gone? and still so many questions that are left. >> and you know in this particular case, she wanted to bury her son in a short-sleeve short. that's all she wanted. that's the reason i'm sitting here telling you this story because the funeral director told her i'm so sorry, you can't do that if you want an open casket. and that unravels this entire investigation. >> rosa, i mean, beautiful work on a story that is so, so hard to tell. thank you so much. we appreciate it. she appreciates it. we'll be watching it. cnn.com and cnn go. >> that's it for us. we'll see you back here at 10:00 eastern for an hour of "newsroom." >> yes, "smerconish" ask back after this break.

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