account at the polls. >> you're saying you and we've heard from other women also who are the accusers of donald trump before he was president feel forgotten. >> uh-huh. >> do you think it's time to speak out more? i mean, to what do you account that you think the public has forgotten about these? >> i think it's just evidence of sort of the political atmosphere these days. we're forgotten by politicians who think it's more convenient to keep trump in office, you know, have him just sweeping his indreiscretions under the rug. i think they're forgotten who want to put party above all else and that's sad because this should be fair in politics. >> we should say that president trump has denied the allegations in very forceful terms. he's called all you of you liars. in fact, there's a defamation suit against one of you for

being called liars. what do you want to see happen? >> well, i'd love to see him held accountable. whether that's congress looking into his, you know, sexual misconduct. i think that would be fair. i hope if that doesn't happen, people take that into account maybe lenext election. >> do you want the president to apologize? >> that would be great. that would be a wonderful first step for him to acknowledge his behavior and apologize. i would definitely welcome that. >> so, when you read the billy bush thing -- i know, look, when i read it and i'm not even sitting in your shoes, it felt like it was overdue. but it did feel as though he's trying to shed some sunlight on this. what was your sort of initial, visceral reaction when you heard billy bush is coming forward? >> when i read that excerpt, i was picturing him on that bus with trump and the other men. i was thinking at that point it

would have been great for someone to say that talk is not okay. you know what i mean? i hope that will start to change that men will sort of interject when other men are making comments like that. or just actually acting on those types of behaviors. so, it's not just the women coming forward. other men can help in this regard, too. >> it's such a great plan. we've had so many people say in fact men must be part of this or it's not going to work. in fact, men need to call it out when they see it. of course, nobody wants to paint with a broad brush stroke of all men. it's these individuals. >> right. >> having had your experience with then donald trump then you heard the "access hollywood" 25 tape, what did you think? >> yeah -- i mean, yeah, he's basically admitting to the behavior that i was a victim of. so -- >> and then you have followed the reports that he now is saying in private maybe that wasn't actually my voice?

>> uh-huh. i mean, nothing shocks me anymore about him. i think he's a pathological liar. and -- i yeah. it's not shocking. but it's sad. that people don't, i guess, hold him more accountable for those things. >> rachel crooks, we appreciate you coming forward and telling us your story. we appreciate your perspective. >> thanks for having me. >> we're following a lot of news. let's get right to it. no collusion, there's been absolutely no collusion. >> the president tweeted that he fired me because he had lied toed fbi. that ups the ante between ongoing investigations at your own peril, i'd be careful if i were you, mr. president. >> what we're beginning to see is the putting together of a case of obstruction of justice. >> we're very close to the finish line. >> this was swamp 101. >> the bill was being

handdrafted, lots of provisions were being included for special interests. >> i never said i read every single letter on every single page, but have i read every aspect of that bill if it was fused together -- yes. >> we believe this will get the country performing better. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. good morning. it's 8:00 in the east. we begin with breaking news. president trump tweeting his endorsement of roy moore, the alabama senate nominee accused of child molestation. i should say candidate. both changing their tune on roy moore. >> this follows a series of tweets, attempts to undermine the credibility of the fbi. the president launching an strordz attack on the nation's top law enforcement agency, saying its reputation is in tatters. worst in history.

why is he doing that. that seems as clear as the language he's using about the fbi. this comes after fired national security adviser michael flynn pleaded guilty to plying to the fbi. joining us cnn political analyst maggie haberman. maggie, good to have you. i'd love to be wrong about it, but it does seem to be a guarantee that if you go after the president or represents something that he takes as eye threat, he will attack you even if it's one of the key institutions of our democracy. >> i think you're correct. if you think how this feels to the mennd women of the fbi to have the commander in chief to say it's all a mess. there's no question that the presidethe fbi came out bruised from the election. for the president to say this takes it to a completely different level, and to say it with all due respect to twitter

founder pretty serious media. and when there's a tweet for all occasions that he's done in the past where he was on the opposite side of it there was a tweet that sarah sanders, the press secretary did about hillary clinton in 2016 which ask if you're attacking the fbi because undercriminal investigation, you're losing. that's exactly what's happening here. >> let's talk about the breaking news this morning, that is, back to twitter, the president has tweeted what is an endorsement. >> sure. >> of roy moore, we need republican roy moore to win in alabama. the president did. he seems to be getting more brazen about his feelings about roy moore. for a while there it was a little dicey about what to say but this is as clear as day. >> in fairness to the president, he's been a lot clearer than mitch mcconnell who went from pretty hard language to, well,

we'll let the people of alabama decide. >> he's done an about-face. >> president never fully went in either. he made clear for a lot of people, this for him, it's reminiscent of when he went through several accusations from him in 2016. and felt very familiar. he wants tax reform. it's pretty simple. >> he doesn't even know where roy moore would have been on this bill. obviously, he's not relevant to it. >> no. >> and i hear the same thing you hear, a little bit of this is how he regards accusations from women. look, to be fair, roy moore has every right for fight accusations against him say what he believes is true. how much is it about i need to see, i don't care who it is, i need to see? >> that's a lot of it. a lot of it is this psychic reminder at least don't rush to judgment. the allegations against roy more

are not just sexual harassment. it also includes inappropriate sexual conduct with a 14 year old. i think he does realize that it's essentially a couple weeks left, save for that, this has been a year where the republicans have had total control of the government and got extremely little done. he also feels roy moore would be more loyal to him perhaps than the gop majority leader with whom the president is not always on the same page. >> do you have a sense what's going on behind the scenes with president trump's endorsement of roy moore given that his daughter ivanka put out that public tweet who said this is there's special place in hell. >> she didn't tell him to drop out, but she did say there's a special place in hell for people who abuse children. i'm paraphrasing.

it's the same language that marc short had used a few days earlier on a sunday show. i think she was not doing something out of bounds. her father was not pleased. >> a gave him several opportunities to remind people how he felt about roy moore. in fairness to him, he's not the president. he's there to do legislative affairs if he gets sideways with the president about this, you can make a whole moral agency argument about it. but this is about what the president believes. >> that's right. >> on flynn, this idea, the monkey wrench they threw into the works on this, even i could never have seen it coming. if he knew that flynn had lied to the fbi when he fired him, it changes potentially, the analysis of obstruction, because it goes to what his intent was when he did it. >> correct. correct. >> for mueller, it's a construct ouf legal argument, he can come out either way on it but then they say, well, it was the

lawyer. dowd comes forward and said i wrote it i gave it to scavino, the guy who runs the account. he put it out. president has nothing to do with it. one, they did a good job of mimicking the president's mode of speech in that tape, by the way. >> there's one school of thought that dowd, the lawyer, did indeed write this. that he did it because the president was getting agitated. the president was in new york running around to very expensive fund-raisers. and he wanted to tweet. and they were trying to take this out of his hands and let's do it together. if that's true, that tweet was still incredibly problem maddic and very surprising for a lawyer to have said, yes, he knew this at the time. that tweet as you know correctly sounds an awful lot like donald trump's voice. saying dowd did it they're clearly trying to say that these are tweets that mueller shouldn't look at but if you're

mueller why would you accept that? >> they also tried to put it on ty cobb, the president's other attorney. >> it's not true at all. it was stunning the number of e-mails i got from republicans some fans. president, some not fans who saw the tweet and said did he just say he knew that flynn had lied to the fbi when he fired him? that would mean, if that had happened, that when he, according to comey, pressured comey to, you know, see it in his heart to let go of the flynn investigation, or whatever the exact language was which comey interpreted as a directive, that the president knew that flynn had lied to the loeb. that woo change the entire thing. >> so, maggie, behind the scenes how is president trump feeling about how this happened with mike flynn? >> i don't think he's excited. >> he's acting like there's this whole dichotomy of whether or not he's being undone by it. >> right. >> or whether or not niece blithely tweeting shouldn't have done that owe well? >> no, that is at least closer to the comments he's given to a

number of people privately which is he still has faith in ty cobb's analysis that his will be done by the end of the year or soon after. he's not seeming particularly at least outwardly concerned about it. a number of his friends think he is not taking this seriously enough. and doesn't seem to understand the existial threat his investigation could pose. >> even though he does have these spasms on twitter where he says things that are ill-advised whether accurate or not, he does seem to be doing much more than just this. by all indications he's working the phones on the tax bill. >> that's right. >> he's trying to cut bills and there's a measure of frustration for him as well that he doesn't really control the negotiation. talk to maggie, maggie says i need, mr. president. let me try. i can't get them to do it. let me see if i can get them to do it. he doesn't really control it and that's amounting frustration. >> that's true. i think he's gotten better.

what all of his advisers will say he's gotten better at understanding the nuances of legislative process and legislative deal-making. its incredibly complicated and arcane, finding the balance against these two people against the middle and then you need two other people against the middle. he's doing better with this than he did with health care. and i think there's more of a entire to have him involved as a voice from the hill perspective especially because the two people doing it, gary kohn and steve mnuchin were not met with success on the hill. the president's voice has helped. it's not something smooth for him. it's very different. he's discovering as he goes along. there's a level of learning in realtime that we have seen with presidents. all presidents learn in realtime to some extent, but most presidents have some experience with the legislative process. >> maggie, great to talk to you. we do get to breaking news. out of yemen, yemen's interior

ministry is reporting that the nation's former president has been killed. this comes after five days of fighting that has killed at least 125 people and injured hundreds of others. we have cnn's becky anderson joining us live from abu dhabi with the breaking details. what do we know? >> we are still working to confirm this, chris, should it be the case this is a hughly significant turn of events. dominant figure in yemen politics over the past 40 years dead. who was he ali abdullah saleh and why is his death significant? given the optic in this conflict recently. remember, he came to power in the military coup in the 1960s. later became president of the north yemen. and then leader of the united country in 1990. as the arab spring swept through the region in 2011, he announced plans to transfer power to his eldest son. protests broke out over that.

he refused to step down. months later, wounded in an attack on the presidential palace. he officially stepped down in early 2012, after 33 years in power. as this country of yemen began spiralling into civil war. now, in recent years, he has played a key role in the war between houthi rebels and the saudi-led coalition, as they conducted air strikes to crush the fighters they call terrorists. he had got into a marriage of convenience with the houthi rebels. but just in the past few days, he had announced that he was prepared to back the coalition. saudi forces. so he had really done an about-face. and in the past, he has infuriated saudi arabia. just made many yemenis who had

fought to oust him. his death coming 24 hours after he announced he was in talks with riyadh. many saw this a complete game-changer for his quagmire. where it goes next is an interesting question, chris. >> becky i'll take it. we have more breaking news. multiple sources tell cnn that jared kushner believes he has found the key to brokering a middle east deal, however that's putting him with secretary of state rex tillerson. elise labott joins us with new reporting. good morning. you know the president has called the agreement between israel and palestinians the ultimate deal. he tapped his 36-year-old son-in-law jared kushner to lead that issue. the u.s. has said it that they're drafting plans to submit to a peace deal early next year. and kushner, according to sources, familiar with his

thinking is kauconfident that t saudi crowned prince, the 32-year-old heir to the throne can convince the palestinians to accept the administration's proposals and stop the region from vee vorevolting. it's a gamble that's fuelling tensions with secretary of state rex tillerson. he himself has been embattled with reports that the white house is trying to force him out. some allies think that kushner may behind those rumors or reports. the white house denies it. but tillerson is worried there's some grand bargain going on. that the saudis are trying to use their country's political process for the peace process. now tillerson doesn't believe that jared under the tinder box in the middle east. that he's moving too fast. and that the crown prince is too young and that saudi actions are going to tip it in yemen.

and the white house says there's no bargain and diplomats are saying that kushner is trying to push a lot. we'll see that first test this week the president is consulting about announcing that he's going to move the embassy in jerusalem. and now in israel, going to recognize jerusalem as the capital 6 israel. we'll see how the saudi s react chris. >> that's a huge issue. it's been side stepped from other administrations for a reason. president trump very much in the news this morning. he just gave his full endorsement to an accused child molester roy moore running for senate in alabama. how do others feel about it? we'll ask a gop congressman, next. this is tim barckholtz. that's me! this is something he is researching at exxonmobil: using fuel cells to capture carbon emissions at power plants.

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let's get the big guy in place. the ford year end sales event is here. i can guide you in. no, thanks , santa. i got this. santa: uh, it looks a little tight. perfect fit. santa needs an f-150. that's ford, america's best selling brand. hurry in today for 0% financing for 72 months across the full line up of ford cars, trucks and suvs. for a limited time, get an additional $1,000 cash back on top of 0% financing for 72 months. get these exclusive offers during the ford year end sales event. president trump tweeting his support for alabama's embattled senate candidate roy moore this morning. moore is accused of molesting a girl when she was 14 years old.

joining us now is republican congressman matt gates to talk about this and more. good morning, congressman. >> good morning. >> the president has now endorsed roy moore. you had said on the show a couple weeks ago if the allegations are true, he does not belong in the senate or republican party. how do you feel about the president's endorsement? >> well, it's very clear that roy moore wasn't the president's first choice. he did a whole lot to show that roy moore wasn't the republican nominee. now we're at a point where the president's agenda may be impacted as a consequence of this election. roy moore would not be my first choice. do they want to advance someone who is going to join the president's agenda or fight the president's agenda. while the allegations are horrifying and frankly believable, i think there are a lot of people who may hold their nose and vote for roy moore, not

because they have affection for him but they're concerned what doug jones may do if he ends up in the senate. >> how about you, do you think agenda should be put over horrifying believable sexual assault allegations? >> i have a hard time voting for roy moore. i think it's very safe the allegations made against him, i believe that's left to the people of alabama. look, they're in a tough spot undeniably, as a consequence of these allegations breaking after the primary. the president had a highly comfort level with luther strange. i think he called roy moore, ray moore, during the primary. he didn't even know his first name. i think the endorsement is more for the ideas than the candidate. >> if roy moore gets elected what should congress do? >> well, look, the verdict of roy moore has to be cast by the people of alabama. i think it's a dangerous aspect when congress starts analyzing the conduct of people.

the purview of the voters before they get in congress, and after, falling to the ethics committee. >> some of your colleagues in congress said they would move to try to eject him. >> i think that would be counterproductive. >> you'd live with it if he wins? >> what are we going to do? have a circumstance where people in washington are sitting around second-guessing the will of the voters i think that's a dangerous precedent to set. >> let's talk about the fbi and the president's view of the fbi. he tweeted yesterday after years of comey with the phony and dishonest clinton investigation and more running the fbi, its reputation is in tatters. worst in history. fear not, we'll bring it back to greatness. what do you think about the president publicly sort of undermining the fbi? >> well, we're got a lot of problems at the fbi right now. andrew mccabe is the current deputy director of the fbi. just days ago, we saw e-mails

released where he was calling the hillary clinton investigation special. and indicated would be handled by a small group at headquarters rather than going through the normal investigative processes. we've seen instances where fbi agents people involved in the mueller probe had had anti-trump tendencies. we need an fbi that will apply and follow the law. and there have been circumstances where the fbi has departed from their own procedures and as departed from the normal dispassionate practices in an investigation like this. we're going to have christopher wray in front of the house judiciary committee in a few days. >> it sounds like you also don't have faith in the nation's top crime fighting agency? >> i don't have faith in every circumstance that we're following every correct procedure. that shouldn't impugn the actions or motives thousands of agents or other fbi employees around the country. sure. >> doesn't this certainly affect

morale and impugn the work of all of the men and women, at the fbi, to say that it's in tatters? >> well, look, twitter does allow you a few more characters now. but i don't know it allows you to provide full context. i think the most relevant context are e-mails and texts and other revelations that show a clear bias of the fbi in favor of hillary clinton. >> you're referring to one agent who was involved in the investigation. >> no, no, there's multiple circumstances. you've got the agent text, but you also have the mccabe e-mail where is hillary clinton was given special status. and that the investigation into her did not follow the normal procedures. so, i think that the context of hillary clinton getting special treatment, the president having people of a clear bias against him investigating him, has bubbled up in this frustration that released itself in the form of that tweet. >> are you still calling for robert mueller, who, of course, is heading the investigation into whether or not there were trump ties to russia, are you calling for him to be fired? >> yeah.

i think that bob mueller has pretty clear conflicts of interest that really impair the confidence that the american people can have in this investigation. bob mueller was the head of the fbi in 2009 when we should have had a report about the uranium 12 deal and russia's involvement in that and the many contributions they were making to the clinton foundation at a minimum creates an appearance of impropriety. bob mueller didn't do the things that others have done to raise questions about the u.s. assets. i think if you're impaired from a conflict of interest standpoint from one participant in the 2016 election you're likely to have a conflict of the interest as it relates to the election in its entirety. >> do you think if the president fired roberts mueller it would create chaos and a huge backlash among voters and those in congress? >> i think what we have now is chaos. where you've got people investigating the president revealing their bias in our own

tweets. while at the same time, the fbi is releasing e-mails showing pro-hillary clinton bias. if we were 0 to have a conflicted special counsel that would impugn changes of the united states that would be the greatest chaos and that's what we're trying to avoid by replacing bob mueller. >> president trump is speaking to cameras right now. we want to bring it to you as soon as we get it. >> thank you for your perspective. >> thank you. president trump's tweets raising eyebrows. but is what he said about michael flynn even if the president knew that flynn had lied to the fbi when he asked comey to go seize on flynn, would that about obstruction of justice. prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember.

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i think what we're beginning to see is the putting together of a case of obstruction of justice. all right. that's senator dianne feinstein, top democrat on the senate judiciary committee saying they're developing an obstruction of justice case

against the president. that's tricky, right? because obstruction of justice is a crime. if it were pursued as such that's the realm of superb council, not congress. where is this coming from? michael flynn's guilty plea. the president says that the white house is very happy that there's no collusion with russia, and he sees that out of flynn pleading guilty. let's talk about that now with former trump campaign adviser, michael caputo. merry christmas to you and your family if i don't speak to them before then. >> thanks, chris, merry christmas to you and yours. >> all right. the concern is if the president knew that flynn lied to the fbi when he went to jim comey and said i hope you can see your way clear of letting this guy go, that would be in violation ever his duty to see the faithful execution of law. and adds to an understanding that maybe this was obstruction of justice. defend. >> well, i think obstruction of justice, you have to prove both falsification and concealment.

and we know that there are members of mueller's team who have far overreached. for example, on arthur anderson trying to prove on jukz. ended up destroying a company with 85,000 employees and this was overturned later on. this is a very sticky wicket, not just for donald trump but also mueller's team. if we're going to be, you know, taking apart these tweets which obviously tweets about ongoing cases are pretty inadvisable. >> and ill-advisable for the president to tweet about this. but he did. again, just to stick with the facts on it, do you think that he knew that flynn lied to the fbi when he went to jim comey? >> no, i don't. i'm looking at the time line and what tom mcgann briefed the white house on today. and we're looking at a smoking gun anywhere they can get it. and if it comes from a tweet that the attorney adviser

drafted for him i think it's going to be it difficult to prove this in a court of law. but we know now, especially with the flynn charges that there is no russian collusion being alleged anymore. it's all about obstruction. he's the fourth trump campaign official, the second high ranking one, who's been out there and accused of crimes. and there's not one word of russian collusion. i think that's what the president has been looking at. that's what i've been looking at. but obstruction, of course, is a sticky wicket, and i think this is going to go forward. >> well, you need to know more on the collusion piece because these efforts to affect russia's disposition towards sanctions and what was said and who was involved that could go specifically to collusion. i'm using that word intentionally. collusion is not a crime. it's an activity. it's a type of cooperation that could lead to illegality. but it's an early step on that.

the reason i ask you whether or not you think trump knew about flynn lying to the fbi, because his own lawyer thinks he knew. john dowd said in "the washington post" today. he said it on a sunday show that information was passed to white house counsel tom mcgann. so to put your point avoid, his lawyer says he knew, how does that change the analysis? >> i'm not quite sure how it changes the analysis, i'm not an attorney. i don't know that dowd is correct on that -- >> why would you go to comey and ask a guy to be let go, why would you do that if you're the president? >> we're looking at cases where the official went to the chief of police -- >> mike, let me stop you one second. no, no, i'm not stopping you because i don't like what you're saying. the president spoke. i want people to hear. -- and others have wanted to

be done for many, many years. it will be one of the great really events in this country in a long time. so important for states rights. and so important for the people of utah. and i know a lot of you are coming out with me. we'll have plenty of time to talk. the stock market i think is going to have a very big day based on the massive tax cuts that we're very much in the process of getting approved. but based on the vote we had last week, the stock market has been reacting unbelievably well. the only thing that hurts it is the fake news. and there's plenty of that. so, we're heading out to utah again. i know you're comeing with me, lot of you. we'll have plenty of time to talk today. thank you. [ inaudible ]. >> well, i feel badly for general flynn. i feel very badly. he's led a very strong life. i feel very badly, john. i will say this, hillary clinton

lied many times to the fbi. nothing happened to her. flynn lied, and they destroyed his life. i think it's a shame. hillary clinton on the fourth of july weekend went to the fbi, not under oath. it was the most incredible thing anyone's ever seen. she's lied many times, nothing happened to her. flynn lied and it's like they ruined his live. it's very unfair. thank you very much. >> all right. all right. so, mike, we'll bring you balk. that's why i was cutting you off. it wasn't that i was checking your point. we wanted people to hear the president of the united states. again, instructive to the point that we were talking about, the president saying i feel bad about flynn. that's his opinion, by the way. there's no demonstrable lie to the fbi except what happened on whether or not there were classified e-mails. even that, comey had to back off the idea that she had lied what classified e-mails were being used on those servers so that's

the president's opinion. but it still leads us back to motivation and why he went to comey even though he thought that flynn had lied. it seems he's making his own case with the words coming ought of his mouth, yes, i knew he lied but i don't care because i don't think all lies are equal. now, that's what went through his head when he went to jim comey. do you think he put himself more legal jeopardy because why you decide to help -- why you get rid of domemy is relevant to the special counsel? >> well, i think any previous president would take the advice of his counselors and not talk about ongoing legal cases that could come back to the white house. but this is a different kind of president. previous presidents might not have even used twitter. and now this president is. most of my friends who are in the white house. those of us outside who watch the twitter feed just like you do, sometimes, it makes us pretty nervous. but this president is very different. and i think he feels confident in his position in his legal indication and he's not as concerned as we are.

i get that. the problem we have, the lawyer, dowd, apparently drafted a tweet that was worded poorly. the president has said that he fired general flynn for lying to the vice president. and we also have known for 11 months, 11 months from "the new york times" week 11 months ago that general flynn very likely flied to the fbi. these charges that came down from general flynn have been long, long expected. i think we're seeing the advancement of this investigation. and it looks like mueller is moving forward resolutely. >> lying to pence and lying to the fbi are very different. we've known the pence story for a long time. >> they are. >> we did not know that flynn lied to the fbi. and that the president may have known that. >> it was leaked to "the new york times" about him very likely lied to the fbi. that's been out there for quite some time. >> but a single report, you got to see it when it comes out in the form of action by special counsel. then you know it.

the old expression for lawyers, you only know what you show. mueller just showed his hand on flynn to an extent. with dowd, i don't care if he drafted a tweet or not. emhe said on the show that trump knew that flynn had lied to the fbi. that clouds the picture of why he went to jim comey. whether or not he likes to talk on twitter is besides the point, michael. it's what he says. >> right. twitter is a jealous mistress. no one knows better than me, chris. it's a tough place to do your business. >> right, but i'm saying, who cares, he chooses it. it's what he case. there are official statements out of the miscellaneous. i don't care if he's using se semifor. it's the same thing. >> i get that, i think that tweets necessarily complicate the investigation and make things more difficult for the white house. but there's an upside and a downside. i'm confident that the president is going to come out the other end of this thing not being

found guilty of obstruction. obstruction requires falsification and concealment. i'm not an attorney but i think that's a high crime for the mueller team. what i'm proud of now, we all know from these charges against general flynn there's been no russian collusion, no one has discussed that -- >> i don't know how you say that. how you can be so confident of that? >> because the allegations against general flynn also took place during the transition. you can't collude on an election that it happened 45 days before. >> but the timing will be relevant, obviously. you're talking about the logan act. and whether or not you had a private citizen negotiating on the behalf of the united states. and that's something that is rarely been enforced anyway. and there is certain politics and practicalities during the transition. but i don't know why you're so quick to say that there is no collusion. now you know for a fact -- we're watching the president exit joint base andrews walking along

with a military official. obviously, your screen will tell you trump's on his way for a speech, the monuments there and the abrief yaee breev yagthose practicality on the moral agency involved with that are you confident in saying roy moore is our guy? >> i'm comfortable. roy moore wasn't my first, or my second choice, in the alabama primary but we know how that 71-plus percent of alabama republicans think the charges are false. this is up for the people of alabama.not for the washington establishment or the president of the united states. but i think the president and others around him in the senate and house realize that the practicality of another republican vote, loyal to the

president far outweighs the allegations which came out in an election, that i always discount any accusations against a candidate in the final weeks of a campaign. >> thank you. it's time for "cnn money" now the house and others differ on major points. what does that mean four, christine romans is here. >> well, look, what congress decides will be felt by taxpayers in every corner of the compa company. a lot depends on the fate. and there are other places. house has four income tax brackets, and the senate has seven. including that rate being lowered from the top. and house mortgage interest deduction, medical expenses student loans. grad students have been really worried here about their tax bill. they fare better under the senate plan, than the house.

bus permanent corporate tax cuts are the cornerstone of both of these versions. make no mistake with no guarantee it will add jobs or raise wages. let's zero in on the senate score. the losers grow over time. for example, for americans making median income. 81% get a tax cut in 2019. but by the year 2027 only 14% still have a tax cut. and a fourth, a fourth of those middle income taxpayers will pay more. the biggest tax cuts go to the top earners. other tax goodies for the top, repealing the amt. the estate tax, also repealing that. preserving the fund used by hedge fund and private equity managers. chris, the criticism from democrats and frankly many in congress about this, this is definitely corporate tax cuts less on the individual side, unless you're rich. >> but it's being sold agency the best deal for the middle

class they've gotten in a long time. christine romans, thank you. the president venting his frustrations about the fbi and justice department on twitter. what does he gain by undermining institutions of our democracy? the potential fallout, next. hi i'm joan lunden. today's senior living communities have never been better, with amazing amenities like movie theaters, exercise rooms and swimming pools, public cafes, bars and bistros even pet care services. and there's never been an easier way to get great advice. a place for mom is a free service that pairs you with a local advisor to help you sort through your options and find a perfect place. a place for mom. you know your family we know senior living. together we'll make the right choice.

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file badly for general dmrin. i feel very badly. he's led a very strong life. and i feel very badly, john. i will say this, hillary clinton lied many times to the fbi, nothing happened to her. flynn lied, and they destroyed his life. >> that was president trump speaking out moments ago about michael flynn's guilty plea. he called it unfair. this comes as the president launches an extraordinary assault on the fbi in a series of tweets saying the bureau's reputation is in, quote, tatters. let's bring in our guest to discuss. lisa monaco, she was special counsel to robert mueller's chief of staff when he was the fbi director. mike rogers cnn international security commentator, and former in-house chair. lisa, let me start with you, you heard the president say he felt badly and then pivoting as he

will do, to hillary clinton. how do you think we should be looking at these michael flynn developments? >> alison, the plea is the speed at which the mueller special counsel investigation is moving. what the prosecutors now have, in the form of a cooperator in michael flynn, is basically a personal tour guide for the prosecution. and for its investigation going forward. michael flynn being the senior most individual in the campaign, in the transition. and in the beginning days of white house, he dcan provide a lot of insight and a lot more information to the prosecutors as they continue their investigation. there's been a lot of focus on fact that he pled to one count of false statements. but that does not, by any stretch, represent the full information that he's admitted to already. or that he can, and probably already has, provided to the prosecutors. >> mike, how do you see it, i

think that's an interesting personal tour guide approach, i think that helps us get our minds around it. but he has to know something. and based on the looming charges that are bigger than the one count that he pled guilty to, it does seem as though robert mueller thinks that mike flynn holds the key to things, how do you see it? >> absolutely. again this is something instrumental in the campaign and after in the transition to trump from the barack obama administration. so, what's important is that you look at that, so what happens before you get to the plea deal, the fbi folks and doj folks will sit in a room and say, guess what, it's not just about this. you have to tell us everything that you know. if you want this deal, you have to tell us everything. we have other charges we can charge you with. it appears by all of the comments made surrounding it that maybe his family members

have been implicated as well. all of that will go wei with full cooperation. that full cooperation has to be robust. before he signed a deal, i can guarantee you they got a layout in the time prior to the election and that's clearly what they were interested in those conversations. and saying it was a more senior person certainly implicates other folks in the white house today. >> lisa, i want to read to you this tweet that has become problematic about what president trump sent out this weekend about why he fired general flynn. he said i had to fire general flynn because he lied to the vice president and fbi. he pled guilty to those lies. that is a shame. his accusations were lawful and nothing to hide. that has become problematic because the president wasn't supposed to know that flynn had lied to the fbi or rationale for firing hill. and then president trump's lawyer said actually that was my

tweet. i worded that. i sent that out. if it was the president's lawyer, then no harm done and this tweet goes away, and if not, not problematic? >> no, absolutely not. even if dowd was the one to offer the tweet, look, this is the statement of president's defense counsel, he's going to make a whole bunch of statements that are in his client's interests regarding of who authored it, this opens up a whole new avenue, i would imagine for mueller and his team to, okay, find out who was the author of that tweet. is there any information to corroborate the dowd story that he's the one who authored it. the other thing to remember, alyisy alisyn. the obstruction requires knowing that the investigation exists and taking steps to impede it. but regardless, this state over the weekend, certainly is going to be problematic down the line.

>> okay. i want to read to you donald trump's tweet. nobody is disputing that he offered this one about the fbi. after years of comey with all of the phony and dishonest clinton investigation and more, running the fbi, its reputation is in tatters. worst in history exclamation point. what do you think about the president saying -- you know, going after his top criminal justice agency? >> well, candidly, i think it verges on dangerous. you have fbi agent s who are chasing violent criminals today around the country. they're chasing child pornographers today. and into as rate nlgt united states. and white collar criminals. the list is pretty long. and terrorism. they're trying to stop terrorism in the united states. the fbi's credibility is on the line every time an fbi agent shows up and opens up their credentials and introduces themselves as part of an organization that is respected around the world. and to have a president diminish that organization, i think, is

absolutely crazy. and the president -- this is where the president needs to start to understand that this is a little bit bigger than yourself in this case. i mean, the drama credit card of this administration is over its limits. you cannot continue to ramp up these, i think, pejorative attacks on america's institutions that we will need when the president is here, and when the president is gone. these are really important. the men and women of the fbi deserve a lot better than this. >> there you go. mike rogers, lisa monaco, thank you very much. "cnn newsroom" with poppy harlow and john berman is going to pick up after this very break. (whining) aww, i see a big puppy. i see a b-i-i-g pu-u-ppy. hey greg! that's ford, america's best-selling brand. now get exclusive holiday offers, with 0% financing for 72 months across a full line up. for a limited time,

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