we have tremendous support. i think we will get there in a very short period of time. >> i don't think anyone thinks he will hold up this bill. >> two republican senators are both ill. >> both will be back and the votes will be there. >> this is very close to not passing. >> the bill is wildly unpopular. people understand this is a betrayal of the middleclass.

>> an officer's unbelievable sacrifice for a child whose mother battled drug addiction. >> i'm really happy. >> a testament to how strong addiction is. >> do you give up on them? >> i'll never give up. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to your "new day". up first, the first possible legislative victory for president trump is on shaky ground this morning. the gop is expected to unveil its tax plan today. but senator marco rubio says he will vote no if the child tax credit is not increased. president trump calling vladimir putin on the telephone after the russian leader said the u.s. claims of interference in the 2016 election are nothing more than spy hysteria. the president called putin to

thank him in part for saying the u.s. economy is strong. that takes us to the next issue. the secretary of state and the president not on the same page about north korea. what will america's top diplomats say today when he spea speaks to u.n. security council. joe johns live at the white house. joe? >> reporter: good morning, chris. the white house will be watching closely today as members of congress roll out what they hope will be the final language on this big tax bill. the administration continues to express hope that the house and senate will be able to get that bill to the president's desk for his signature by christmas. but there's still the potential for holdout votes, including republican florida senator marco rubio. and some others in the senate, frankly, have been harshly critical of the president in the past. >> he's been a great guy, very

supportive. i think senator rubio will be there. >> reporter: president trump confident that senator marco rubio will get on board with the republican tax plan despite his declaration that he will vote against the bill unless negotiators expand the child tax credit, a measure he has been pushing alongside senator mike lee. >> i remain surprised that there is not more consensus to support the reality that we need to do more to help working people in this country. >> reporter: rubio probing his republican colleagues thursday tweeting tax negotiators didn't have much trouble finding a what to lower the top tax bracket and start the corporate tax cut a year ago. year early. >> 11:59 on the clock and really the pins out to be down. >> reporter: rubio's demand raising additional questions about how republicans will pay for the bill which cannot add more than $1.5 trillion to the federal deficit of the next 10 years. if republicans want to pass the measure without support of

democrats. with a narrow majority in the senate, republicans can only afford to lose two votes and still pass the bill along party lines. the impact on the deficit prompting republican senator bob corker to vote against the original bill. corker telling cnn thursday he has the same concerns he's had in the past but declined to say how he will vote on the updated legislation. two other wild cards. senator john mccain and thad cochran who have been away with health issues. the senator is being treated at walter reed hospital for normal side effects of his ongoing cancer therapy. sources inside describe the 81-year-old war hero as increasingly frail. senator cochran has had a number of health problems this year. he had an outpatient procedure to address a nonmelanoma lesion on his nose. but he is doing well and available now if needed.

vice president mike pence planning a trip to israel in case he needs to cast another tie-breaking vote. the tax push unfolding as one of the biggest proponents paul ryan dismisses rumors that he is leaving congress after the 2018 midterm elections. >> you're not quitting any time soon? >> i'm not. >> reporter: some of his close friends saying the speaker has been doing soul searching about his political future. >> the president did speak to the speaker not too long ago and made sure the speaker knew very clearly and in no uncertain terms that if that was true he was very unhappy with it. >> reporter: they head out to the fbi national academy in quantico, virginia to address the graduating class there. it will be interesting to see what he has to say about the recent critical comments of the fbi.

he is also expected to spend the weekend at camp david. chris and alisyn. >> maggie haberman, good to have you as always. >> thank you. >> are we going to get the big christmas present? >> define what that present is? >> the tax plan. >> some people consider it less of a christmas present. at the moment it looks like yes. we have entered this window where because the possibility for passing it with the votes they had is so narrow, everybody now has an opportunity to use their leverage. marco rubio with the child tax credit, go back out and put their finger on the scale a little bit more and see if they can get any more. the white house still thinks it looks favorable. i wouldn't cast a bet either way right now. we have seen the legislation they thought was going to be okay. repeal and replace. it did not end up going through e end o of the day.

senator mccain is still in the hospital. some suggest he will be back in time, but we will see. others are still on the fence. >> what's going on inside the white house while all of this is happening? how worried is the press? how involved in trying to twist arms. >> my understanding is he is still making calls. he has been very involved in this effort. he has been more involved and more on top of details that he has been with health care. it is not a natural language to him in a lot of ways. this is a little bit easier. look, the legislative affairs votes know they're under a lot of prorb to securepressure to w. they are under a lot of pressure. if they don't get it done now, they know they will not get it done at all. year one is always in presidents

when you get your major pieces done. this would be the last possible window. so there's anxiety. >> you never know when you're getting from sarah sanders. what's your read on on the white house about ryan potentially leaving the speaker role? >> look, he doesn't naturally love paul ryan, we know this. but 6th loves mitch mcconnell even less these days, right? usually what happens is it's a scale. one side is lighter. the other person's weight gets heavier. they have been doing better since he and mitch mcconnell have had their blowup over the summer. we saw these reports and he was concerned. he said we're not going anywhere. my understanding is that it was more about sort of pragmatism that he wasn't sure he would be able to keep the job even if the republicans hold the house because of how tumultuous the

last few years have been. he would rather have the devil he knows than the devil he doesn't. he recognizes it as an easier fight with ryan. he is starting to understand no matter how good his relationship with the freedom caucus, they're not going to score him the wins they need on their own. >> why secretary of state tillerson still has his job given the tension, the lack of respect that the president and rex tillerson seem to have for each other. he reportedly called the president an effing moron. >> he wanted to make sure that major faces do not leave. sessions, tillerson, mcmaster. those are the people he wants to make sure. if we just get into year two, you will see rex tillerson departing in january.

that is the expectation of people in the white house. it is not the president firing even all the time. morale is already really low. >> as you're saying, the facts support the obvious outcome here which is they have been just sweating off talent like we have never seen before. >> right. >> and he said he would bring in all the best people. rex was kind of his crown jewel before the generals. >> yeah. >> if he goes, how is it not about the president? >> in this case it would be because it is being seen as not working out. even some of his strongest defenders push him for the job. a foreign policy division that is aimed almost entirely at the building and narrowing down the diplomatic tour and shrinking the staff which is not seen by any person who has been involved in diplomacy for a long period of time, which rex tillerson has not as an effective way to run

the state department. rex tillerson is clearly frustrated. he often feels shadowed by jared kushner, the president's son-in-law, privately referred to as secretary of state by west wing staff. it will not be seen as a race to the exits. the question is who the replacement will be? is it still mike pompeo. key get through without getting asked a million questions about russia and the things he has said about the investigation into meddling. so there's a lot of questions there. >> let's talk about russia. >> it wasn't intentional. >> i just happened to notice. the president made a phone call to vladimir putin, not to chastise him or talk about sanctions or tell him that meddling is not nonsense but to thank him for complimenting president trump and the economy. >> so people on who think --

there was a report said said he gets comments on his tweets. a day earlier he said the markets are doing well. that is the president's own statement, the u.s. president's statement all the time. he tweets about it all the time. he doesn't seem to be getting enough credit. this one is not a hard one to figure out. he is clearly working the donald trump playbook. even people who made neutral observations about the president of the years that were not intended as flattering, the president sometimes hears it that way. how many of us have seen a story and said, hey, thanks for saying that. when your goal in saying that had nothing to do with how he would respond. >> i haven't seen a full readout of the call. i don't know what else they discussed. but we do know this part about him thanking the president for the economic indicators that

putin put forward. was there, to your knowledge, any instinct to say don't call putin right now. unless you're talking about interfering.

i think john kelly is, you know, he's a general. he's sharper in how he deals with these things. whatever it was that it required from the president. whatever it was is such a close hold only a handful of people, among them john kelly, joe hagen, deputy chief of staff, they are the ones who know about this. omarosa said something interesting in the interview. she said her conversation with kelly took place in "the situation room". that is very unusual. i'm not sure why it would have taken place there. she is yet another person who after donald trump spent years, you know, pushing on people with nondisclosure agreements, she said i'm going to go out and talk. >> and get paid for another month. >> paid by taxpayers for another

month. even though she said her security clearance deactivated. incredibly unusual about their role or lack thereof in this process. they confirm her pass was deactivated. i've never seen that before. >> this is bizarre. >> it's weird. >> all right. when it comes to the gop tax plan, who is going to benefit the most? the middleclass or the rich? how about a nice juicy debate? plus, what do trump voters hope to see happen in the new year? what do they predict? we ask them. ory of green mountain coffee roasters sumatra reserve. let's go to sumatra. the coffee here is amazing. because the volcanic soil is amazing. so we give farmers like win more plants. to grow more delicious coffee. which helps provide for win's family. all, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee roasters.

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republicans are hoping to deliver president trump his first major legislative victory by christmas. they have hit a snag in this rush. there is a lot of uncertainty on the table. here's one example. senator marco rubio threaten to go vote no on the tax bill unless the child tax credit is raised. now, a lot of this is gamesmanship. when you have a vote this close, senators have a lot of leverage.

it raises the question is the legislation in jeopardy and should it be? let's discuss cnn senior economics analyst steven moore and rana. wherever you celebrate it, i hope you celebrate it well this time of year. let's start something specific. i want to talk a little net neutrality here as well. okay. in terms of who this is designed for we know 60% of the value goes to the top slice. the tax cuts even for me, even for a one percenter are temporary. the cuts for the businesses are permanent. why that preference? >> well, that's a good question. and we struggle with this, by the way. a lot of businesses say, look, if we're going to build a new plant, factory or invest more in

equipment, we want to make sure this tax cut isn't going away. that's the reason we want to make the business tax cuts permanent. the reason that the individual tax cuts are temporary is frankly because of the 1.5 trillion. there was a limit on how much under the rules that could be afforded. the only way you could stuff all of that in this box was to make some expire after six or seven years, some after eight years. by the way, i actually believe this is going to work. as it works, people will say we don't want this to expire. i totally expect this will eventually be made permanent. >> we have heard that before. ronald reagan said you don't balance the budget on the backs of the poor.

>> i don't like the preference. steve and i disagree on what businesses were actually going to do with the money they get on tax breaks. if you look back the past 20 years you have not seen tax breaks causing sustained investment. they will buyer back their own shares, buy dividends. that's great for the top 20% of the population that owns 80% of the stock but doesn't do a lot for main street. it will increase the gap. we're already in a market that a lot of people think is overheated. this is what we are seeing now. >> the people who put the president in office three years from now. business is doing well.

>> president trump mentioned for every new regulation there have been 20 rollbacks in regulation. the business community, employers believe this is a pro business president who wants businesses to succeed. part of that is the tax cut. i talked to a lot of major ceos of companies and small businesses. what will you do? a lot of them say, look, we're going to expand, reinvest in business. look at the gdp numbers. we're up to 3.5% growth. we can get 4% growth. one of the big elements of this bill is what we call immediate

disexpen d disexpensing. a lot are telling me, look, you do that, it is like a performance-enhancing drug. >> i can believe small businesses might invest. but small businesses will not be the major beneficiary. they will be the largest, richest in the world. apple stands to gain $47 billion from this tax cut. apple is holding 10% of america's corporate wealth. what we need to do particularly at the end of a recovery cycle, it doesn't feel like it, but we have been in recovery almost 10 years. that is typically how long the cycles last. we are due for a recession if you look historically. that's the time to be putting safety nets under people, you are doing something for main street not wall street.

>> people don't know what's in the bill. the more homework you do the more concerned you are. the reason for lack of popularity, other than the left coming after it so hard and the interest groups, it's a maybe for the middleclass. >> don't look at wall street as an indication. >> but it is also true that most of americans's savings, their pension plans, 401(k)s, that's all stock market. when american businesses were financially healthy -- they don't invest. we have learned what happened in the 2008 and 2009 recession. the stock market crashed. then what did companies do? they started laying off millions of people. >> a couple of points.

most americans keep most of their wealth in housing. rich people in rich locations. the stock market isn't all that connected to main street. >> that's a problem with the american economy. every american should be morin vested. >> they have to have the money. >> start investing even a little bit at a young age. the most colorful force is compound interest. >> they have $30,000 of debt. >> those are the choices they have made. let me get something really quick from you guys. net neutrality, do you like the move by the fcc and why? >> i think we ought to keep the internet regulation tax free.

>> i think we need a new definition of net neutrality. i want to see an open, equal access for the rich and the poor. i do have is sympathy with broadband providers when they say, look, we're building out the 21st century digital railroad and we can't monetize it as well as google, facebook. by repealing net neutrality, you might create an uneven playing field for average people. >> and less infrastructure by these companies if you tell people you have to give it away. >> you know why i asked about both, it's the same choice pop seugz. who are you going to take care of? take care of what they want or what i want. that's what you did with the tax bill. we will see how it turns out. that's what they are doing with net neutrality. you two, always value added. >> thank you. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas. putin dismissing claims of election meddling as spy mania.

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president trump thanking russian president vladimir putin during a phone call yesterday for praising strong economic performance on mr. trump's watch. it came after he called claims of russian interference in the u.s. election nothing but, quote, spy hysteria. richard blumenthal of connecticut joins us now. >> good morning. >> we want to ask about this phone call. we know what was discussed because the white house put out a statement. president donald j. trump planked president putin for his strong economic performance in his annual press conference. what are your thoughts about what president trump chose to talk to putin about? >> i welcome the president of the united states having amicable relations with russia

and cooperation with russia when it comes to north korea, syria. we hope we can cooperate on the international front in stopping north korea from acquiring nuclear weapons and also in the middle east seeking peace there. but the president has resisted the objective reality that russia meddled in the 2016 elections. in fact, he's firmly -- to any suggestion that russia attacked our democracy which plainly did all the intelligence agencies have reached anonymity in that conclusion. and it impairs our ability to resist and set up this kind of meddling and interference in the future. it is a real national security. russia will repeat it unless they are made to pay the price. >> senator, there is something even stranger i think about russia is. the "washington post" is

reporting that intelligence officers have told them, their sources say, these intel officials leave information about russia out of the daily intel briefing to the president because it upsets him to hear about it. so they have chose tone admit information from the daily intel meeting about russia. is congress comfortable with that? >> i'm certainly not comfortable with it. the president needs and deserves to face objective reality, which is russia is a threat to our democracy. putin is, forgive me, a kgb thug. he wants to expand russia to encompass what used to be the soviet union. that's his long term goal. and he wants to undermines democracies around the world, most particularly our democracy, as he showed very, very clearly in the last election. the fact that the intelligence

briefers are failing to provide the president with an objective and comprehensive view is of the world simply because he's infuriated by a is suggestion that russia supported him in the last election and may have contributed to his victory is very, very dangerous. and this kind of rejection of reality has reverberations across the government and is a threat to national security. >> let's talk about the tax bill. do you think there will be a tax bill on the president's desk that he will sign before christmas? >> certainly the political dynamic is in favor of the republicans reaching their goal of rushing this tax bill, ramming it through the congress without proper consideration. it is going to be unveiled today. it is extremely complex. and it does, in fact, as i think the last segment of your show

demonstrate, tilt the benefits in favor of the wealthiest and corporations and creates trillions of dollars in debt for our children and grand children. it threatens our national defense. the former chair of the joint chiefs of staff once said famously the big of threat to our national defense is our national debt. because it undermines our ability to acquire those weapons, training young and women for our military. it also undermines social security potentially and medicare. so i think that our republican colleagues will ignore those threats. they will do horse trading and arm twisting. marco rubio is still holding out. others may as well. but the political dynamic here is that unfortunately republicans are simply desperate for some kind of win that they can present to the president. >> okay. next topic. as i'm sure you know, some of your fellow senators have begun

calling on president trump to resign. this is in light of sexual harassment and misconduct allegations against him. so there are six senators right now. you can put them up for you. calling on the president to resign. are you going to add a name to this list? >> i think the president ought to be subject to the same scrutiny as anyone else in america, whether it's entertainment, business, congress, or sports. and that ought to encompass investigation as appropriate. i am more focused on the investigation in the way of a judiciary committee for obstruction of justice. i think that robert mueller ought to be able to pursuit it. in light of some of the very disturbing comments that have

been made just in the past days by republican colleagues on the house side about possible enter interference in that investigation. the investigation of russia meddling in this last election and attack on our democracy, as well as possible obstruction of justice. >> so that's a no in terms of a call for him to resign? >> i want to see what the facts are. i think there ought to be scrutiny. >> senator blumenthal, thank you very much for being on "new day". >> thank you. >> chris? coming up, we have an update on a cnn story that went viral a few weeks ago. remember this police officer made this incredible sacrifice and adopted an opioid addict's baby. how is that mother doing now? we have an update. she's nationally recognized

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press brew. that's it. so rich. i love it. that's why you should be a keurig man! full-bodied. are you sure you're describing the coffee and not me? parts of the northeast are gearing up for another round of snow. jennifer gray has your forecast. anything new in your life? we haven't seen you for a while. >> i had a baby three months ago. >> that is so nice. >> his name? >> cayden. >> welcome back. >> thank you so much. you guys are going to have some cold temperatures the next couple of days. temperatures running 10 to 15 degrees below normal. in the 20s starting out in new york. 19 in boston.

feeling the chill. this brought to you by keurig, brew the love. we will see is another shot of snow as you mentioned. also around the great lakes. around the northeast, this will hit around rush hour. we are going to see a little bit of a sloppy mess for the commute home for the northeast. new jersey, the majority of the snowfall on the eastern side of long island. this will be a quick mover. it will move in, move out. boston will get a little bit of snow as well. we're not going to see huge amounts. one to two inches. isolated amounts could see two to four. let's get the high temperatures today. 28 degrees in new york. should be in the mid-40s this time of year. chris? so aunt alisyn said cayden is a pretty name. but it's a boy. i say it is strong. i am sending you a fish rod lighter for your fireplace. it got booted because it was

seen as flammable. i guess it is because it's a lighter. it's cute. jen is a huge fisherman, conservationist. >> babies love flammable things. >> that's right. you can take the thing out of it and you'll be all right. now to an update on the cnn story that touched millions on social media. this police officer adopted an opioid addict's baby when he encountered her on the job. after the story aired, several rehab facilities across the country offered to help the baby's mother and her partner. but did they seize the opportunity to get clean? that's the hard part of this story. ed lavandara has an update in "beyond the call of duty." >> reporter: crystal champ flies a sign in an albuquerque, new mexico intersection, scrapping together the money she needs to

pay for the heroin that controls her life. crystal was at the center of a cnn story that touched tens of millions of people around the world. >> after the story ran, there were a lot of people that were worried about you and wanted to see good things happen for you and to get clean. how does that make you feel? what do you take away from that? >> it's nice that people care. >> i'm not going to lie. it looks like you guys are ready to shoot up over here. >> reporter: in september, albuquerque police officer saw crystal eight months pregnant, homeless, shooting up heroin with her partner tom. nearly three weeks after that chance encounter, crystal gave hope to baby hope. and the officer and his family offered to adopt the baby. they've guided the newborn through the painful withdrawals from heroin and crystal meth. today baby hope is doing well, bright eyed and smiling.

but the story didn't end there for the officer. >> he adopted us too. >> the accolading mean nothing if he can't help crystal and tom. >> they're not obviously my family members and i met them a couple months ago. but i feel the same way i would feel if they were my brother or my sister. >> reporter: after the story aired on cnn, several rehab centers around the country offered to help crystal and her partner. but the grip of heroin is so strong that crystal believes she can't leave this life. >> i know what it takes for me to get sober. it is not easy. >> because you're scared? >> yeah. scared that i'll get clean and, you know, not find my comfort that i find in my life like this. >> reporter: a rehab interventionalist approached

crystal and tom. there was a break through. they agreed to take their addiction behind and take the offer to enter a rehab center in florida. ryan, with a smile, escorted them to the airport. >> what does it mean that they are still trying to help you? >> he believes in me. he is my personal angel on earth here. i don't know where he came from, but i'm really happy that he is here. >> reporter: but when the officer and the rehab team arrive at the airport for their flight to florida, crystal and tom unravel. ryan looks on heartbroken. >> we tried. we tried to get them into rehab. and they wouldn't go.

>> reporter: crystal and tom missed the flight. >> it is a testament to just how strong addiction is and what it makes people do isn't logical. >> reporter: do you give up on them? >> i'll never give up. i won't. >> reporter: you could walk away if you wanted. why don't you? >> i can't. i just can't. they're hope's parents. >> reporter: ryan still has hope. add lavandara, cnn, albuquerque, new mexico. >> that's devastating. that just captures. if a baby can't help you -- if being pregnant doesn't help, having a baby doesn't help, an offer to rehab, that shows the grip, the struggle. >> i have seen so many babies who come out of an addicted beginning and they end up fine. i don't talk about it a lot.

i have had a lot of it in my life. not personally but close enough. it is not choice. it's not that these people just like to do the drugs. it encompasses every part of your anybody that has an at kwreubgt in their life, you have to understand. meanwhile, sources are telling cnn that senator john mccain is increasingly frail. cnn chief medical correspondent is going to join us with an update on mccain's health.

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there's growing concern unfortunately about the health of senator john mccain. he's a warrior like none other in the senate but the 84-year-old war hero is getting increasingly frail from the brain cancer treatment he is undergoing. joining us is chief medical correspondent -- dana, are you ready? we have dana bash and sanjay gupta. he reviewed his medical records in 2008. this is dire stuff, sanjay. how are you going to explain it to people? >> we no back in july he went in for what they said was a routine check and at that time he had been feeling tired and had a

blood collection just above his left eyebrow in the brain, and that was found to be caused by a brain tumor, and it's a malignant brain tumor and he has been dealing with that over the last five months and had the operation to get the tumor move. even after you remove the tumor you have to work under the assumption the tumor cells are still there, thus radiation, and then he's at the hospital because of the side effects from the additional radiation and chemotherapy. it could be headaches you get from the radiation causing swelling, nausea from the chemo, don't know exactly what it is but that's what is happening five months later. >> what is your reporting on what is happening in congress in his absence? >> first, what is happening with

him, as sanjay knows, he has had aggressive treatment, round after round after round of chemotherapy. that takes a toll on any young healthy person, and he's an 81-year-old healthy person before this, and so it's tough. when you combine that with the fact that senator mccain had been determined to show up for work every day and not miss any votes even though his friends, i am told, were pleading with him just to chill and relax, it took a toll and it takes a toll, so when his office said in their statement he is suffering from the normal affects of treatment, that's what they are talking about. >> they think he is going to vote? >> they don't know. he is, as far as we know at this hour, still in walter reed, still in the hospital trying to get better and to be able to get

out. look, sanjay can tell you this better than i, but three or four days when you are talking about this kind of ailment and trying to recover from the treatment could be a long time. they are hoping he can leave. i know john mccain the way you know john mccain, the last place on earth he wants to be is in the hospital, and one of his friends described him as a shark and he never stops moving and when he does he doesn't know what to do with himself and i am sure that's the case right now. >> the prognosis for this disease is quite grim. he was diagnosed in july. >> right. >> what is the timeframe tell you? >> well, you know, it's tough to sort of talk about these types of numbers and you have to put them in the context that everybody is going to be a little different, but if you look at the totality of the type of tumor, glioblastoma, and

senator ted kennedy, that was his prognosis and that's how long he survived. it a difficult tumor to treat. but, you know, as dana mentioned, you know, the doctors told me when i spoke to him after his operation, he should stay in arizona for a couple weeks and he should not do anything and a few days later he was on a plane to washington. he clearly has a different sort of makeup when it comes to these things. if this, in fact, is the side effects of the treatment, and i don't mean to minimize that in any way, it's more favorable in treating this, and you may treat the side effects and you see the roller coaster and rallies, and he may feel better for periods of time. >> i can tell you that is the hope of his close friends and colleagues, that once the affects of this current round subside, that he will feel better. right now he's not there yet.

>> we all know the senator does not like to be challenged and often rises to one. i challenge him to get up and come on this show and take on this tax plan and fight about whatever he wants on the show, he can have as much time he wants so get after it, senator, and come here and let's see what you have. >> thank you very much. we are following a lot of news this morning, so let's get right to it. it has strong support or we wouldn't be moving forward. >> it's like robbery. >> they are going to pass it as quickly as they can. >> this debate is far from over. >> i like auomarosa. >> as the only african-american person in the white house, i have seen things that made me uncomfortable. >> if that's the case, where in the hell are the black