welcome to inside politics. i'm john king. thank you for sharing your day with us. the two plea deals and president trump said the russia investigations is a waste of time and he is a victim of justice department bias. a big stage for the secretary of state, but new rumblings that his talks with north korea has his boss looking at a top diplomat. the deadline is right now after a rush of last minute deal making. >> i have seen it and think it's

going to do very, very well. i think that we are going to be in a position to pass something as early as next week which will be monumental. i think they will be greatly. they are great people and want to see it done. i know them well and know how they feel. these are great people and want to see it done and done properly. >> we begin the hour with the president and his two takes on law and order. the president spoke to police officers and they graduated from a federal training program. >> we represent the best of america and you leave us with a debt we can never hope to repay. >> listen here to the president's take earlier on the fbi which the president recently said is in tatters and runs the academy at which the president spoke. >> it's a shame what's happened with the fbi, but we are going

rebuild the fbi and it will be bigger and better than ever. when you look at what's gone on with the fbi and the justice department, people are very, very angry. >> the president's beat, he wants you to believe the fbi and the justice department went easy on hillary clinton and are hell bent are him. >> there is absolutely no solution. that is proven. whether it's the senate or the house, my worst enemies walk out and say there is no collusion, but we will continue to look. they are spending millions and millions of dollars. there is absolutely no collusion. i didn't make a phone call to russia. i have nothing to do with russia. everybody knows it. that was a democrat hoax. it was an excuse for losing the election. >> the president is correct in saying to date there is no

public evidence of campaign collusion with russia, but the investigations are not over and the most important one is making a mark. robert mueller secured two indictments of former trump cap pain manager and his deputy. far from nothing. while the attacks on the fbi are a staple, two men appointed by this president say they are not fair. >> the fbi that i see is decent people committed to the highest principals of integrity and professionalism and respect. the fbi that i see is respected and appreciated. >> some of the finest people i know are agents of the federal bureau of investigation. >> with us to share reporting and insights. cnn and the weekly standard and

politico. what do we make of the president as he stops and talks to reporters. he knows where he is going. these are not fbi agents. they are part of the academy. he stops to make the point that the fbi and the justice department are out to get me. >> this reminds me in many ways of his second day on the job where after weeks and weeks of criticizing the cia and intelligence community and went to the cia to give a speech surrounded by poem who volunteered to go there and many were fans of the president's early on and it became a political speech. while the details are differently, it seems clear that he is a, wants to express his frustrations with the course of this investigation and b, the effort to discredit anything that might come out negatively and c, put everyone on edge at the agency. to date, the account we saw him

give doesn't match publicly what you are hearing on the ground. >> so interesting that nothing has changed in a year. at the end of this year, he sounds like before. there are so many advisers and republican who is want him to succeed and wish he would have acknowledged russian meddling and said we are going to have this looked at and set that over here and keep going on with other things. he should have been talking about tax reform, but talking about there is no collusion, that is on his mind. he mentioned fox news and that's what he has been listening to for hours and hours a day. that is the drumbeat here. there are angry people at the fbi. the reality is there are a lot of democrats, hillary clinton among them who think they were mistreated, but at the end of the year the president is still talking about this. it's under his skin. >> there are legitimate questions here. let's be fair. the senator from iowa released

the versions of the comey memo on hillary clinton. if you see the original, there were edits. it's fair for any republican to say how did you go et from a to z. was it done for political reasons? that's a fair question. we have seen the text messages who worked on the clinton and then the trump case. texting back and forth to friends and colleagues. stuff that they should know if you take that job, you are in that position of responsibility. it doesn't matter that it's your personal phone. it's stupid to text about politics and political opinions. some of those were anti-trump. in the texts, the same agents who said the bad things about president trump which he never should have said in a text, trashed bernie sanders and chelsea clinton. how come the democrats didn't bring that in and said this guy

is irresponsible, but on a bipartisan basis. >> where the agent was reporting to trump as a candidate, that's what has refuelled this week more skepticism about the mueller probe. we were talking to john cornyn, the second ranking senate republican. he said look, he seems to have confidence in mueller himself, but some of the people on his team said maybe showing a little bias here and raising a little bit of concern about that probe itself. it's only giving -- with the limited information we are getting, it's only mentioning the more skepticism on the council's probe. >> i think you are seeing that message and other conservative outlets and casting doubt on the fbi and on mueller's credibility. what's different and what is odd and jars is to hear it coming from the president himself.

people underneath him are under investigation. people underneath him on the campaign and they are now part of this criminal probe. this was played from rob rosen stein. maybe they doesn't get enough attention. he was asked by the republican from texas in that hearing if mueller asked it expand the investigation. this is the whole idea that mueller has gone beyond where he should have gone. it's interesting. the deputy attorney general appointed by the administration, he is a republican himself. he didn't give a direct answer to that question. he said i talked to robert mueller and his staff and know what they were doing. it was a moment that told me something we have always known and never heard publicly. if mueller is going to go away, trump is going to have to go

through rod rosenstein. that's an important thing to think about. >> as we get to the end of the year, everyone is asking how long is this going to go on? he said i talk to them all the time and if i had a problem, i would deal with it. the republicans were trying to get him to question the integrity. i will pause at this because these text messages do raise questions. bob mueller fired the guy and how long did michael flynn work at the white house after the president was told that michael flynn lied to the vice president and maybe the fbi as well? just a question. the president was asked to parton general flynn. >> i don't want to talk about parto pardons of michael flynn yet. we will see what happens. let's see. >> this was trump explaining.

the president always says we will see what happens. words he uses as a segue to move things along. you can say that's just the way he talks. you can see yet. see what happens. let's see. >> it's probably an honest answer. we doesn't know what is going to come of this. he doesn't know how much flynn is cooperating. that will determine whether he gets a pardon or not. >> i hate to interrupt on this, but he was charge and admitted lying four times and only charged with one lie and he is cooperating. bob mueller would not give him a bad deal. >> the president is being brutally honest. a lot of aides wished he had not said a yet there, but i think it's true. >> there is not a conceivable

way while this investigation is going on. is there? >> i don't think so. i think it would be in the same way as firing mueller. he is an employer right now. i think his consideration apart from mike flynn is just kind of thinking out loud. if he thought about it more and went down that path, he would see that's a lot more issues. michael flynn doesn't get the fifth amendment plea. >> he didn't bring it up. >> he did bring up his own. to your point, he can say -- i talked about that. >> as a side note, the departures are so interesting, they are a favored way for him to communicate. most other presidents would shy far away from had.

it's an impossible impossible thing. the moments that you had the most interesting revelations. >> the state department struggled on the same page about north korea. it costs the secretary of state his job. man's inner voice: why do i have to be stuck here? listening to all of this? talking about what hurts and property taxes, eating dry pie. ♪ woah. go over there! the kids will accept you, eventually. add experience to the table. then, make a mountain out of that reddi-wip. i'm out. made with real cream. you have your permission. reddi-wip. instant greatification.

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waiting to hear rex tillerson and you can see the ambassador speaking to the united nations and the press conference will be there at the united nations. he is there for a press of condemn nation and isolation of north korea. the white house is twice publicly contradicted secretary tillerson about whether it is willing to negotiate and the white house officials quoted again today as "the washington post" said the secretary is in

line for the job. >> we have been clear that all options remain on the table in the defense of our nation. we do not seek or want with north korea. the united states will use all necessary measures to defend itself with north korean aggression. the hope remains that diplomacy will produce a resolution. >> a vague reference to diplomacy. earlier this week at the counsel he talked about negotiations and used the word no preconditions and then said some conditions. he said we will negotiate without north korea denuclearizing. that's the previous administration. and the white house said no. how can secretary tillerson sit with the security counsel at the moment the administration is critical when everybody else

around the table has to wonder does he speak for his spouse? >> when we are having this conversation in february and he is staying on next year, this is something that is going to need to get worked out with the policies. in the meantime, we are in a holding pattern and tillerson believes the policy is or should be. every now and then through the president or through a spokesperson is jumping in and offering statements that seem to counter or dial back what the secretary of state said. >> this is a global crisis that most people think is at a dicy delicate point that could lead to thousands of deaths. >> it almost seems strategic. i'm not sure it is. the one thing we haven't seen is the president himself directly

contradicting the secretary of state. we saw that earlier this year on the front page "new york times" story came out, i believe it was on the weekend. he fired a shot on twitter, of course. we have not seen that. we have seen a statement from the press secretary. the reality is we don't really know what the president thinks about this. the secretary of state taking out the note-free conditions and they were not prepared. they were not in his speech. is that intentional? he is going have to get worked out. >> the last block we showed you we will see what happens. saying in a quote, there is no consideration being given to pardoning michael flynn at the white house. if they think it was vague or ambiguousuous, there was no answeration at the white house. i want to read this this

morning. as jeff knows, the secretary of state was in china and wanted to have direct talks. one official said tillerson had not learned his lesson from last time. in the newspaper on the day the secretary of state is going to the united nations security counsel to make his case. huh? >> it being looks like an effort to get this message to tiller son to hit the road. >> the guy used to have a tv show. he was fired. >> not everything on tv reflects

reality. that's pulling the trigger. this seems and sounds to me like an effort to say listen. we have the answer to replace you. we have got all of these contdicks that the president and the staff has made. did he get the message yet? i don't know if he will, but that seems to be a part of this weeks long effort. >> they are not on the same page. they are always on the same page. we have lindsey graham who seems to be golfing with the president every weekend nowadays. if north korea has another test, he has the presidents here.

with tillerson's efforts that, doesn't help things on capitol hill either. >> these efforts with other countries continue with a pace. the mixed messaging on the u.s. side may be confusing for the countries. the president with the russian leader and the vice president who will be heading to the mideast if the tax plan gets the vote. north korea will be an issue that he discusses as well as policy with the russians. when you are trying to press china and russia to also get on board, it's important for the countries to know your strategy. >> the president soak to president putin yesterday. listen to the president talking about how north korea factored into the conversation. >> the primary point was to talk about north korea.

we would love to have his help. china is helping. russia is not helping and we would like to have russia's help. very important. >> you don't often hear him criticize russia. he said russia is not helping. at least when they are not helping, call them out, please. >> this is why the whole russian investigation and the president's awkward acknowledgement because the two leaders work together and intended to have a meeting to talk about it. they ended up not having that meeting and this awkward exchange and a month ago, they should have been talking about north korea. it is interesting. he wants a putin cell, but that's why the investigation has consequences. this went far beyond that in

this relationship. >> supposed to be reporters. we will hear what he has to say. the republicans expand the child tax credit in the final tax code will it be enough to bring marco rubio on board? at planters we know how to throw a remarkable holiday party. just serve classy snacks and be a gracious host, no matter who shows up. do you like nuts?

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on this cadillac xt5 i use herpecin l.re, it penetrates deep to treat. it soothes, moisturizes, and creates an spf 30 barrier, to protect against flare-ups caused by the sun. herpecin l. >> welcome back. here's a question. yes or no. marco rubio. that is the question of the hour or a big question as republicans pass a critical deadline in the push to pass a big tax cut plan.

to vote next week, the compromise deal negotiated by republicans needed to be signed and sealed at noon today. senator rubio wanted a $2,000 refundable tax credit as part of the deal and he would be a no vote until things moved his way. that increases to $1,000 to $1400. is that the only hurdle left? we have the latest on the last minute edits and the arm twisting. we know the bill is done. the house ways and means reporter came out and talked to reporters. is he optimistic? >> he believes they will have the votes to pass and we will see them at 5:30. it will be nice to dig through the tax legislation. it's an important point to make. the bill is close. there will be no more changes so any deal or efforts that were struck are done now. this needs to be enough.

his office said he is not coming out in any way, shape, or form as a yes until they see the final text and they haven't. several aides saying they feel confident that boost from 1100 to 1400 is getting him in that direction. that should lock him in and sign the conference report and said people that had problems with the child tax credit should be happy. people think they are in the right place and they are waiting for a firm answer. >> still waiting for a firm answer. when? you say 500 plus pages of policy. when will we see a vote? they cannot move a semi colon now unless they are prepared to go back and forth now. >> they are done and they are in a high wire act and they have to make sure this change gets senator rubio. things have been fluid. there have been two senators that missed votes because of

illness. john mccain and thad cochran. procedurally what they can do to throw roadblocks in the way. depending on the chamber you start with, that can limit what democrats can do. leaders want to start in the house, likely on tuesday after the house moves through. the senate would take it up as soon as pedestrian and send it to the president's desk. that remains fluid depending on procedural issues. >> keep tracking in and he meant that. he is excited to read all 500 plus pages later. let's bring it back. i'm honeyest about that. he will love every last page. >> before we start the conversation, let's listen to the president on his way out. you are nearing the end of his first year in office.

obamacare repeal, infrastructure plan, good luck. this is it for the president. he wants it next week and here it is off to the fbi academy. >> i have seen it and think it's going to do very, very well. i think we are going to be in a position to pass something as early as next week which will be monumental. i know them very well and know how they feel. these are great people and want to see it done and done properly. child tax credit so you understand, the democrats have done nothing in terms of children and child tax credit. we are putting in a tremendous child tax credit and increasing on a daily basis. >> i think it remains a giant question as to assuming they get it to a finish line. assuming they sign it before christmas. after all the dysfunction we

have seen, it does appear that the president is going to do a signature initiative. >> it seems that way. when it comes to senator rubio, he got the changes closer to what he wants on twitter. he is looking for meaningful changes. we will see if this is enough. a lot of senior senators and aides don't believe he will vote against it at the end of the day. aside from the tax credit, there is a lot. it will be difficult for him to vote against that. what i am watching are the absences issues. you haven't heard when senator mccain will return back to the capital for a vote. he is able to come back, but recovering for an out patient procedure. susan collins was not happy that the top rate for individual earners -- >> we need to get to the united nations security counsel. >> well over a decade now, the

international community condemns north korea's pursuit of a nuclear arsenal and we will never accept a nuclear north korea. the unlawful acts cannot be ignored nor can they be explained away. they must be held accountable for their actions. in that regard, the source of tensions on the peninsula are the fault of no one party. there is but one party that is carried out illegal detonation of nuclear devices. there is but one party that continues to launch intercontinental missiles. overflying another sovereign nation because the losses are undertaken with no notification. there is but one party that has been targeted with punishment and penalties through the most vigorous regime changes.

they alone can solve these tensions. >> i thank mr. tillerson for his statement. i shall not make concluding remarks in my capacity as the minster of foreign affairs. >> this is rex tillerson delivering to the security counse council. secretary tillerson with some in that room and some around the world said president trump is responsible for the tensions because of tweets and rocket man and locked and loaded. he said one party is responsible

for this and one party testing missiles. party that launched missiles over the neighbors. we said we will never accept a nuclear north korea. that's one of the questions that that has been official u.s. government policy. one of the questions has been if you get into a negotiation, can the wink-nod be containment? you won't be proliferating the missiles and you won't make a good statement. >> that's not like a red line. they are wary of red lines and president trump criticized president obama for the one red line that got them into trouble. we are living throughout foreign policy, but what read is what lindsey graham is talking about. can you say he's a war hawk, but i'm not sure he is trying to whip stuff up. he may be trying to signal what me is getting from the white house when he talks to the approximate the president and other officials.

>> they need to bring american people. number two to your point, if there is distance around the world, lindsey graham in a way trying to talk to the global community. this is where i see his thinking that he needs this resolve and he is getting frustrated. the strategic patience is over. they keep launching missiles and your credibility is in question. >> secretary tillerson said they alone are responsible. in that moment, they are on the same page with the white house. their personal relationship is still a bit unknown. we don't know. that is central here. that is critical. how long will the secretary of state be in his job. maybe longer than you think. there were rumors he wouldn't last this long. i'm not so sure it's a short

time ritual thing. >> many said he would be pushed out. >> maybe a couple more seasons. >> we shall see and secretary tillerson saw in the security counsel and he is supposed to meet with reporters. one of president trump's judicial picks. let's just say it didn't go well. >> have you ever tried a jury trial? >> i have not. >> civil? >> no. >> criminal? >> no. >> bench? >> no. >> state or federal court? >> i have not. we need to be ready for whatever weather may come our way. my name's scott strenfel and i'm a meteorologist at pg&e. we make sure that our crews as well as our customers are prepared to how weather may impact their energy. so every single day we're monitoring the weather,

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here's pepto bismol! ah. ♪nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!♪ weraise their voice to sayo lethat this presidentle is unfit for office and needs to go. i love it! yes! yes! [ chuckles ] there it is -- over there! mcminnville, tennessee... poughkeepsie, new york... milton, indiana... chattahoochee, florida... wow... we're looking at the whole country. not just the coasts. even in utah, we're starting to realize trump has been doing things that are against our laws. i definitely worry about war. north korea. i don't want that guy's hand near the bomb. sick to my stomach. he's not the kind of person that should be running our country. the things that he does has consequences. is this going to be here for my grandchildren?

he's not being held accountable. if we have the vote, like we have for election day, they will impeach him. times square is the crossroads of the world. we need everyone to go and put their name down at needtoimpeach.com. we need to speak up together and demand an end to this presidency. they always refer to me as master sergeant. they really appreciate the military family,

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the first judicial nominees. lighting up the nominee. two other picks and republican senator john kennedy asking a series of basic legal questions to a man who is currently a commission on the federal election commission and up for a court seat. for good political reason they flagged it as a much watched oh, boy. >> have you tried a jury trial? >> i have not. >> civil? >> no. >> criminal? >> no. >> bench? >> no. >> state or federal court? >> i have not. >> do you know what a motion-is? >> i would not give you a good definition. >> do you know what the younger abstention is? >> i read it, but again -- >> how about the pullman

abstention? you will see that a lot in federal court. okay. >> okay. >> i'm not having flash backs from a college exam. >> in one way, it's not fair to pick on one person, but the president said i hire the best people. he set a record for getting judicial nominees a pointed, but that is a partner who is clearly doesn't have the experience for the job and doesn't respect the process to do homework and study to give basic answers to basic questions about federal law. >> there are many qualified people for these positions, but to me it was like some of the those very hard to watch hearings where someone wants to be an ambassador. this is for the bench. this usually does not happen. i think it speaks to how quickly they are moving on judges.

that is the one not untold, but not mentioned as much. the rapid success of filling the bench has been extraordinary. i don't know how many others like this have gotten through, perhaps no one, but it's much tension. >> tweeted out by a democrat. he's a maverick. a bit of a maverick. kennedy, you spent a lot of time with him. this is a republican senator who takes his job seriously and said what are you doing here. >> he has been frustrated for sometime. he is questioning on one of the earlier judges that were confirmed by the senate easy by republicans where senator kennedy had tough questioning with john bush and had controversial block posts. he ended up voting for him anyway. frankly other senators for sometime. there was pretty memorable gaggle and a couple of us on capitol hill a couple of weeks

ago where he started to vent about nominees. he said he raises concerns to the white house counsel. i said what's the response and he said it's like talking to the wind. >> that's one example. we have comments or challenges now. used to be a talk radio host. here's just one example from frank for december 2012 talking to president obama. with the exception of the color of his skin, not only does he lay out a false claim with black american experience, he has no idea what it is, but people don't care. that's one example there. he hosted a noted brirth birther on his program he said you are cherry picking and finding things. they said the person who speaks like that belong in a sense of position in the u.s. government. >> this is a big problem pretty

much since day one during the transition. it is an odd republican administration and does not have a lot of friends in what you might call a broad community of experts and people who fill the positions. they have done i would say not excluding what we have talked about today, they have done well in finding qualified people. there is this federal society of large conservative judicial organization that helps find good people and provides them to republican presidents. >> there is still the expectation of the independent judiciary and number two, these are in many cases jobs for life are long periods of time. if you are a conservative lawyer or jurist and you want to have a chance to join a bench, it

doesn't matter who the president is. that's a great opportunity to do it and it's part of the pack that a lot of republican establishments are uncomfortable with other elements. that has been the biggest selling point to work together. the backlash of the party if they push too hard. there are some cases. >> the cases that cross the line and a great piece about turnovers. they will cover it as they get through. this from lindsey graham, we are counting the votes and while i support child tax credits, i don't support general revenue to pay for a social security contribution. they are beginning to read the fine print here. i don't think lindsey graham will be a no. a little bit of the dancing they do up there. we shall see. coming up, unless we get big tax news, enrollment is up for obamacare.

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just for the united states on this, but the view of the entire international community. i think that was clearly expressed by the members of the security council today. we simply cannot continue to accept the progress of north korea's program. we will maintain the pressure t campaign and increase the effectiveness of the campaign through a combination of sanctions and full implementations and compliance as well as unilateral actions on the party of many, many countries to send the pressure through diplomatic and economic steps that we do not accept the pathway you are on. we hope it will cause north korea to alter its course and

reexamine whether this will lead to a more secure regime and whether it's possible to sustain an economy if they continue the path they are on. we are going to continue our efforts and those options we main open. other things may foreclose the diplomatic option. i will take a couple of questions, perhaps. >> i would like to ask you about myanmar. two voices were arrested and is the u.s. considering further sanctions over human rights abuses? >> the embassy and our expressing our concerns over the tension of individuals.

information as to the circumstances around their disappearance, we are continuing to examine the circumstances around all of the events since the august attacks that led to the enormous migration of people out of myanmar and have already identified one individual and we are examining other possible individuals to hold responsibility for targeted sanctions from the u.s. >> how important is a free press? >> it's vital to myanmar's transition and becoming a viable democracy. we want the democracy to succeed. we know it is a process they need to work through. this crisis is a real test of whether they will be able to affect a successful journey to democracy. >> you previously said that a precontinue to talks with north korea, is the regime agreeing to

give up missile capabilities and on tuesday you said that was not realistic. today you didn't mention the issue at all despite in your prepared remarks. does it remain for the united states and are you and president trump on the same page on whether and when to engage in talks? >> the president's tell us on north korea is quite clear and there is no daylight between the president's policy and the pursuit of that policy. the president has been clear that we are going to lead this pressure campaign and unite the international community and keep the pressure as much as we can and increase most recently the president called president xi personally and asked him to cut the supplies off to north korea to increase this pressure. that is intended to lead to diplomatic talks. in the meantime the president has been clear militarily. we will be prepared should something go wrong and our military is repaired. with respect to the talks, we

are not going to accept preconditio preconditions. others have called for freeze. we didn't accept any relaxing of the sanctions. we do not accept the humanitarian resistance. so we are not going to accept them, but as i indicated in the remarks, our communication channels remain open. north korea knows they are open. they know where the door is. they know where to walk through the door when they want to talk. thank you. >> taking a couple of questions after the racks up in new york city. very interesting. saying there is no daylight between his position and implementing the president's policy and the policy set by the president. number two, he said they are open to conversations with north korea and he would not say there

are no preconditions and none set on the united states. you have heard sometimes from china and sometimes others in the world community while the united states should agree to stop military exercises. the united states should perhaps says on the only to produce troop levels on the peninsula to entice them to come to the table. they are saying it's not happening. they are the bad actor and they know how to start the negotiations. walk through the door. >> we are not going to accept preconditio preconditions, but they are on the same page and comes after a precondition. we are ready here and he prefers that diplomatic option. the ball is in the president's court to see if he disagrees with anything the secretary just said. i can't see how he would. you get the sense as lindsey graham said earlier, this is ratcheting up towards something pretty extreme. >> you make the case that there

is not a lot. if the president wants to talk tough, the president's job is to be a diplomat. you have the quotes, slapping the secretary of state. he can say that. the question is 24 hours or 48 hours. >> the messaging is a problem, but what tillerson is trying to do is focus on areas that they do agree on which is that north korea is the problem and the u.s. is putting its foot back on the gas. remember in july and august, things were getting hot and the un speech and after that there began to be this period of play where everyone said are there discussions or quasi-discussions behind the scenes. it's about to happen and it seems that the u.s. is pivoting back to the position where it's leaning hard on china and russia and the other countries to pull back harder and signal that hey, we are getting ready to be more

serious into that posture. hr mcmaster did a mini preview of the president's strategy and something that we understand we are going to be seeing unbuild on monday. we will be looking at that to see how north korea is addressed. mcmaster using language that is different than trump. he was talking about russia using strong language. i think you see with mcmaster as well as tillerson and mattis. an instinct to pursue the policies that they really are and force the president. >> he may not always match his language. is that a fairway to put it? >> i think so. and we are trying to shape it

out of unmolded clay. >> keep an eye on this one. we have breaking news to deal with. wolf blitzer in the chair after a quick break. hi. i'm the one clocking in when you're clocking out. sensing your every move and automatically adjusting to help you stay effortlessly comfortable. i can even help with a silent night. does your bed do that? i don't actually talk but i can tell you how you slept. i'm the new sleep number 360 smart bed. let's meet at a sleep number store.

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