the only movie to beat it, the previous "star wars" film, "the force awakens." so many of the reviews are, this was a powerful film centered around two powerful female actresses and characters. i'm excited to see that. >> nice to see that. that's going to do it for us. i'm dave briggs. >> i'm christine romans. "new day" starts now. all right. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is your "new day". it is monday, december 18th. 6:00 here in new york. here's our starting line. there's some good travel news. power is back on at the world's busiest airport. flights at atlanta's hartfield international are expected to resume at this hour. but you're urged to check with your airline. that's the bad news. more than 400 flights are

already canceled today. there was an 11-hour outage that stranded tens of thousands of travelers sunday inside the airport and on the tarmac. now, atlanta's mayor says a fire at an underground electrical facility was the cause. but what sparked that fire is not known. and in washington, president trump says he is not considering firing special counsel robert mueller, which is a good thing because he can't fire mueller directly. as for mueller's team, taking a rare move of publicly defending themselves, denying allegations by attorneys for trump's transition that they received unauthorized access to thousands of transition he mails. meanwhile, the focus on capitol hill is taxes. republicans appear to have the votes for their long-awaited plan. it is considered a big win for businesses and the rich. what it means for the middleclass is still being

debated. senator john mccain is back home recovering from chemo. sources say he is okay but exhausted. what is the situation in atlanta, martin? >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. the world's busiest airport going through a massive reboot this morning as you point out. the lights are on. that handled around midnight last night. but the problems are far from over. take a look. it doesn't really look that bad. but the reason is most people have already had the bad news. they know a lot of flights are delayed or canceled so they have stayed away. these are the ones that are hopeful their early flight will go. so far we have not heard of a single flight taking off. tsa is in place. some of the stores are open and operating. and there are people behind the computer terminals. a lot of patience being had by a lot of people here who have

spent the night on the main terminal and all the other concourses. it's been a tough go. the power went off around 1:00 yesterday. it was off for 11 hours. more than 1,100 flights were canceled. there are 400 flights that appear to be cammed today. they think they will be back to normal late this afternoon. it is all because of the fire that took out the backup system. >> the backup system is the one that is supposed to work. how concerned are officials? >> this is a huge black eye for the city of atlanta. and the mayor. they always touted they have the world's busiest airport. when the lights go out, they haven't handled things well. many said there was no emergency plan. and what kind of system do you

have if the backup system goes out when the original system goes out? that's not a backup at all. there is questions about training. they are looking at georgia power saying it was their problem to begin with. >> martin, listen, we feel the pain of all the passengers who are stranded for hours, some on the plane, some on the tarmac. what's the airport and airlines doing for them today? >> reporter: you know, you have to remember what a power outage does in a major airport. it's not just you're sitting in the dark. all the people that are in wheelchairs are immobilized because the elevators and escalators didn't work. restaurants closed down. access to food and water was only given out by the airlines themselves or organized by firefighters. then on top of that, what happens to the unaccompanied children? if you're a parent waiting for your child at the other end and suddenly they're lost in atlanta overnight, on and on.

then there's the baggage issue. a massive amount of on baggage has been disrupted. where is it and when will you get it out? what happens in atlanta doesn't stay in atlanta. 10% to 20% of flights everywhere are impacted here. >> it's the opposite of vegas. what happens in vegas, stays in vegas. good distinguishing characteristic. this is not the time of year to have travel disrupted. martin, thank you very much, pal. so president trump insisting he is not considering firing robert mueller. mueller's team is denying accusations of improperly obtained e-mails. this is all going on as the president's personal attorneys are prepared to meet with the special prosecutor this week. cnn's joe johns has the latest. joe is? >> reporter: good morning, chris. this is always been an add very is sayral process. but the president's legal team

has continued to say they're cooperating with the special counsel. what's changed now is the amount of pushback as the white house, as well as some of the president's allies on capitol hill now trying to discredit special councsel, even though te president saying he's not planning on firing mr. mueller. >> are you considering firing robert mueller? >> no, i'm not. >> reporter: president trump denying that the white house is laying the groundwork to fire special counsel mueller. one day after a lawyer for mr. trump's transition team accused mueller's investigators of improperly obtaining thousands of e-mails. >> not looking good. it's quite sad to see that. my people are very upset about it. i can't imagine there's anything on them, frankly. because as we have said there is no collusion, no collusion whatsoever. >> reporter: mr. trump's lawyer arguing in a letter to congress that the documents provided to

mueller's team were their property and contained materials that should have been protected by attorney/client privilege. mueller's team denying wrongdoing in a rare statement saying, when we have obtained e-mails in the course of our ongoing criminal investigation, we have secured either the account owner's consent or appropriate criminal process. the dispute coming amid escalating rhetoric from the president's supporters against mueller's probe. >> this is an attack on the presidency at levels we have never seen before. >> reporter: talk of firing special counsel prompting bipartisan concern on capitol hill. >> i think that would be a mistake. >> what is the white house afraid of? let's let them finish the job and get the facts >> reporter: rumors about mueller's fate as republicans are on the brink of passing their $1.5 trillion tax over skwraul.

>> this is going to be one of the greatest gifts they have ever gotten for christmas. >> reporter: senator john mccain will not be in attendance. mccain returning home sunday after spending several days in the hospital due to side effects from his brain cancer treatment. mccain's doctor saying the senator continues to improve as the office insists he looks forward to returning to washington in january. meanwhile, president trump speaking with russian president vladimir putin again sunday, their second conversation since thursday. the white house saying putin called to thank mr. trump for cia intelligence that helped foil an isis-inspired a attack in st. petersburg thursday. and he complimented him on his handling of the u.s. economy. this afternoon the president is expected to deliver a speech laying out his national security strategy. it is expected to focus on economic issues. and unlike the obama

administration, it is not expected to include climate change as a national security threat. chris and alisyn. >> joe, thank you for all that news. joining us are john avlon and jeffrey toobin. jeffrey, i want to start with with you about the legal question. the trump transition team e-mails. the transition team and mr. trump's lawyers say they were obtained by robert mueller in an unauthorized way. mueller says it is is totally lawful. which is it? >> these are government e-mails. the mueller team obtained them from the general services administration. >> they are.gov addresses? >> pttp.gov. they are part of the government. i think all of us understand that e-mails that, you know, are turner e-mails, they are not under the individual's control. they ever under the control of the entity that created the

e-mail address. and this is just not even a close call. >> can any be privileged? >> no, i don't think so. because, remember, there are not -- the attorney/client privilege does not apply in the government in the way it does in a private setting. there is no issue of executive privilege because trump was not president yet. there is no presidency. >> the reason i bring that up -- this is a common frustration for you because you are a legal expert and journalist. sometimes when the media reports on legal things, it does a little bit too much balancing, fairness. some of them say, well, some of these could have been privileged. well, they could have gotten them the wrong way. some feel the responsibility to put it out there when it's b.s. similarly, this idea that, oh, wow, do you think he is going to fire mueller? people have to slow their roll on that. he can't fire mueller.

rosenstein saying i don't see any call to remove him. i have to go back to the law. if i don't see cause, i wouldn't follow it. what more do you need to know? if he makes a move on mueller, that's fine. he can. but it is going to almost certainly go bad for him. >> look, obviously they have is in mind is the saturday night masser. it didn't work out well for nixon and it wouldn't work out well for trump. is he constrained or up pullsive. there is an overall effort we have seen to delegitimize attack by the president's surrogates. >> that is demonstrably true. >> and that has been ratcheting up in recent weeks and days. that is the back drop that people are concerned about. the e-mails, look, you have worked in government. you know your e-mails aren't your own particular property. executive order may not hold. that's government property.

you need to watch what you say, be thoughtful behind it. >> the hype behind will he fire him, won't he fire him. it oversimplifies it. >> i think we have to recognize that donald trump is not constrained by the norms that many other presidents felt constrained by. yes, it's true, he cannot fire mueller directly. he has to instruct the justice department, whoever winds up in charge of it if people end up resigning. and richard nixon. if it had just been the saturday night massacre, that didn't cause his resignation. he might feel he can brazen it out. >> now the next installment from bizarre-o world, the way right-wing media is casting the fbi at the moment and the criminal justice system.

janine peero who has a commentary on fox news is loaded for barrel. here's what she said saturday night. >> i doubt an american presidential election history there has been as great a crime than that committed by a criminal qaa ball in our department of justice who think they know better than we who our president should be. >> that rhymes.of justice who t better than we who our president should be. >> that rhymes. >> that's not a news show. she can say whatever she wants on that show. >> a lot of people agree with her. there are people who feel that the fbi wasn't doing its job with a clean hand. whether they're right or not, is up to the inspector general. >> her audience includes donald trump. he has met with her.

he has retweeted stuff she said. people can say what they want. but the fact is, she has a serious audience in the oval office on, which, you know, matters. >> the rationale sounded like a transcript of his deepest desires. that's the problem. you get this confirmation bias coming from fox news surrogates. and comparing the fbi to the kgb is just beyond historically ignorant. it is deeply odious and disrespectful to the men and women of the fbi. it is an overall effort to delegitimize. people advocating on the part of the administration is acting like they are under investigation. the senior adviser to the president is on, that's

chilling. that is just asking questions that we need to pay close attention to because of the fact pattern. >> at the end of the day, you only know what you show. all of this is just political hype. either you will see what the inspector germ comes out. make a case about what comey was doing. you can show the political bias or jaundice was more than something we have seen always at play with human beings during investigations. or it will just fade until their next credit. >> when you do have the president's network, fox, talking about how corrupt and politically motivated the fbi is, this starts to have an impact. >> it plants a seed. we know this. >> i don't think you can dismiss it that easily. >> it's not about whether i dismiss it or not, it's this is what they do. it happens in waves every time something that comes up sensitive to the president.

you get a sense of how he feels by looking at state tv. >> which is creepy. part of pirro's rift is lock them up. have them marched out in handcuffs. >> and she named them. these are honorable public servan servants. i worked with the fbi several years. these are people who really care about their job. the vast, vast majority of them have is no political interests. these are people who are really good people. and it's painful to hear the entire agency dismiss it. >> maybe that's why it doesn't bother me as much. comey made his own bed. he has issues that will live with him for a while. but for mueller, they are on record saying he is one of the best americans in history. maybe that is why it is is not affecting. newt gingrich said, bob mueller, he is the best of the best. integrity is una tenable.

then he starts taking shots at mueller. this is their guy. this is a lifelong gop guy whose integrity is always been unassailable. when you get to their case, like congressman gates, they have no case. they don't like what's happening. maybe i'm overstating the lack of impact. >> i was doing the math there. you're right. whatever you said is right. >> it sounded good. it's compelling. >> thank you, gentlemen. >> we'll leave it there until tonight's show. republicans making plans to vote on their tax bill this week. this is a big and definite move. they want to sign it. they want to vote on it so the president can sign it. then you get what the president keeps calling the best christmas gift of your life. what is in this plan for you, how will it affect a lot of americans in different categories, facts ahead.

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republicans poised to vote on their historic tax bill this week, but senator john mccain will not be there. he returned home to arizona to recover from brain cancer treatments. joining us is a.b. stoddard. let me start with you. here's what we know so far. this keeps changing. it is good to check in everyday

with what's in it. the corporate tax rate. this is the big one they have been wanting. there's seven different brackets. so it still stays at seven. it was going to be at one point three. here's what's in it. the corporate tax rate goes down to 21% in 2018. ends amt for corporations. boosts individual amt. there is an exemption up to a million for families. sets top tax rate at 37%, down from 39.6%. standard deduction doubled. it will cut 30% down to 6% on people who itemize. repeals the individual mandate. 20% for pass-through income. keeps the estate tax. a.b., this is not what paul ryan promised you would be able to understand on your postcard and do your taxes on a tax card.

it is still complicated. >> yeah. it was unfortunate they actually provided the visual and had the prop of the postcard. because that was a big promise. that's going to be something democrats remind them of in the campaign next year when people are still going through the process of a complicated tax return in april. there's obviously also been overpromising. this was described as a middleclass miracle. he said last week the middleclass and working class get a tremendous benefit. people will feel that in the summer of 2018 when people are hardening their opinions of who they are going to vote for in congress or they're not. if we're at 6% growth and the gamble that this bill made on corporations turning all of these changes into new hiring and stronger and better wages,

if that's all come true, that is going to be a great boom for republicans and a win on the boa board. >> that is a great word that a.b. uses. it is a gamble. ten economists will give you eight and a half different opinions of the ramifications when you give corporation more money, more freedom. you can do the tax card if you don't itemize. but they didn't get rid of the corporate loopholes. >> right. >> the loopholes that businesses use thickened out that tax policy again. the mistake is the political calculation. this keeps being sold as much as yesterday. >> yeah. >> the president is saying middle class families, this will be one of your best christmases

ever. he's rolling the dice. >> that has never constrained him before. what we know for a fact, this blows up the deficit and the debt. by not making the tough decisions of closing the loopholes, you guarantee that. even obama wanted to do that. it didn't blow a major hole in the deficit and the debt. republicans have decided that zero sum politics is worth with whatever contradictions. this bill is better than originally proposed. it addressed a lot of the things that were indefensible. but some folks will see their taxes raised if you life if you

live in a high tax state. >> theoretically they will vote on this or have it on the president's desk by christmas. and it seems as though they are going to be able to do it without senator john mccain. this is an update from his doctor. he is responding well to treatment. received at walter reed medical center for a viral infection and continues to improve. he is responding positively to ongoing treatment. that's the best news we have had in days. >> the consequences of cancer therapy can be very severe. the fact that he can get on a plane and be home for christmas is really a wonderful thing. and we all wish him the best.

but they have secured the votes so that he can go home and not return. that's the best thing for him and his family. they are confident they will be able to pull this out. it will be done on on time. >> a.b., what is the simple math. without mccain voting, what is the margin of error what has to happen for it to pass? >> cochran said he can come for the vote. so they would be down to 51 minus mccain. then, you know, i guess they have a buffer of one. vice president pence is coming to break the tie. >> nobody wants to be that one now. >> that's been part of the political calculus. they would have stood up corker, collins and cohn.

>> so interestingly, a.b., putin called president trump. they have spoken now twice in three days. what are we to make of this? >> there's been a lot of thanking going on. i can't remember a time when the u.s. and russian governments have gotten along so well. and the things that he said at his press conference last week, the way he spoke about trump's leadership and everything going gang busters in the stock market and going over so well here and americans shouldn't question their own system or government and everything. i found those comments staggering. i cannot believe we are at a

place where vladimir putin is talking to us in that way. but apparently they have a great relationship. >> it's great if u.s. intelligence can stop a terrorist attack and stop innocent civilians from being slaughtered, that is a wonderful thing for the world. what you would like to see if the two leaders are cozying up there is truth telling about our election, which is apparently not on the menu. >> thank you very much. the white house telling the cdc not to use seven specific words in its budget documents. words like fetus and transgender. now the administration claims that is being discharactcharact. we will sort it all out next. i saw the change in rich when we moved into the new house.

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vulnerable? that's a question for the cdc today after the "washington post" first reported that the white house asked the centers for disease control to stop using the following seven words. diversity, transgender, fetus, vulnerable, entitlement, evidence-based, science-based. the department of health and human services say the use of these words in a miss characterizati characterization. dr. holt, thank you very much for being here. >> good to be with you, alisyn. >> what's wrong with transgender and fetus and vulnerable?

>> nothing is wrong with the words. the problem comes in excising them. a lot of people have been calling this orwellian. dr. fitzgerald, head of the cdc, said, oh, no, we're not doing that. a spokesperson said this is a mischaracterization. all i can tell you is somebody said something that got to the employees that said they should not use these words in budget documents. that creates self censorship at least. >> just out of curiosity, what happens -- let's pretend they stop using these words like fetus. i don't know what other use you use for transgender. i don't know what other words you can substitute for some of these things like vulnerable and science-based. let's say they stop using those words. what's the upshot? what's the danger?

>> there is a serious side here. of course most people, when they heard this, they just laughed. how ridiculous. some called by george carlin's seven dirty words. >> it does hearken back to the seven dirty words you can't say on tv. >> it reminded me of something i haven't read for years. but i remember in "catch-22" by joseph heller, the censors of letters from the warfront would one day censor all nouns. the next day, all verbs. the next day, all adverbs and adjectives. this might be a farce if we weren't in the middle of an epidemic. it is ironic this is the centers for disease control. they look at epidemics. well, the epidemic i'm talking about is widespread negligent

attitude towards science, neglect of evidence. where people fire and wide seem comfortable substituting wishful thinking and opinion and ideology for evidence. >> and they have removed climate change from epa's documents and websi website. >> and removing questions from various surveys. the state department said instead of saying sex ed, sexual education, you should talk about sexual risk avoidance. so, you know, this epidemic of neglect of evidence is really serious. because if you want policies and regulations that work, they should be based on our best understanding of how things are. >> yeah. >> and that's what science is.

science is a way of asking questions so we can get our best sense of how things actually are. >> yes. and in general, also in the united states, we don't ban words. let me tell you what their side is. this is hhs, overseeing the cdc. here is their reaction letter. the assertion that hh is s has banned words is a complete mischaracterization of discussions regarding the budget. hhs also strongly encourages the use of outcome and evidence data in program evaluations and budget decisions. so away from that sort of bureaucratic speak, the way i understand their argument is that what they say is that the terms evidence-based and science-based have been used so often that they are virtue is alley meaningless. they will phrase it differently because they have become catch words. >> some of these words that were

flag said, fetus, transgender, suggests that there is ideology creeping in here. ideology is the enemy of evidence-based thinking. evidence-based thinking is the antidote for the kind of thinking that is not based on how things actually are. and it is hard enough to make evidence-based decisions without having is the very idea dispair acknowledged. >> dr. rush holt, thank you for joining us with your perspective on all of this. >> thank you. >> chris? more evidence that everything gets easier when you're married. prince harry is now engaged and he got a big get right after it, snagging a one-on-one interview with former president obama. the story behind the big booking next. [ keyboard clacking ]

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the house intelligence committee will question rob goldstone today. he arranged the 2016 meeting between donald trump jr. and that russian lawyer who promised dirt on hillary clinton. the panel is expected to question former dnc chair debbie wasserman-schultz. she denies knowing of an arrangement for the dnc to help fund a dossier containing sell salacious accusations against mr. trump. on sunday, thousands of firefighters faced intense wind gusts topping 70 miles per hour as the fire spread to more than 270,000 acres. there was a pause in the fight

to honor cory iverson who died. people saluted as the funeral procession # went by. the fire is now 45% contained. prince harry and former president barack obama. watch. >> do i have to speak faster? >> no. >> do i need a british accent. >> if you start using long pauses between answers, you have to do the face. >> oh, okay. >> that was good. president versus prince. it happened in september during the invictus games. he shared his hopes for the future. the bbc will air the full interview december 27th.

it will be released as a podc t podcast. i'm glad we had video of this podcast or radio show because you can't see the joke. we get to see the joke. but on radio you cannot see the funny face. so i'm glad we have that. >> a big get. not easy. the former president is not a big fan of interviews. >> having a charmed moment right now. fun to watch. >> you get married and everything in life gets easier. some people call this the smallest handcuff in the history of the world. not me. liberating. it is like a power ring. >> that is inspirational. thank you. president trump fine-tuning his speech on national security today. he will be promoting an america first strategy. he is expected to take on one country, though. details next. needles.

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president trump is expected to fold his america first policies into a national security strategy today. this after an unusual call from russian president vladimir putin thanking president trump for a cia tip that helped avoid terror attacks in st. petersburg. this is the second time the two have spoken in days. joining us is david sanger. always a pleasure to see you. the best for the holy days to you and the family. >> you too, chris. >> the phone call, your take? >> the strange thing about the phone call is not that it's happened. frequently world leaders call and thank each other for cooperation on intelligence issues. the strange thing was that it

got announced by both sides. i can't imagine that the intelligence agencies were happy about it because it helps people to begin to figure outsources and methods of how this happened. and then the white house statement that ended up coming out two days after the conversation took place and after the kremlin announced this ended with congratulations to the intelligence community with a big exclamation point. >> we'll put that up for the audience, david. president putin extended his thanks and con garage hraeugtkp hraeuggarage hraeugszs to pompeo. why do we care about the exclamation point? >> the only thing that is interesting about it it tells you who actually wrote the statement. they usually come out from

mid-level aides. this is a pretty boring world i live in. it had more of a cheerleading stance than the usual sober, we're thankful for keeping everyone safe. >> talk about the irony and an indication of the crazy days that we are living in that vladimir putin would be the impetus for the president to say something positive about the intelligence agencies that he has been railing against for so many months. it is a bizarre world. >> it is a strange year. also strange because it came just hours before this national security strategy comes out, which describes china and russia together. lumps them as revisionist powers. >> what does that mean? >> it usually means a power is trying to upend the status quo and redefine the global rules under its term. i get that for china.

no problem. clearly going around the world looking to fill in vacuums that the united states has left open and looking to right the rules to its advantage the way after world war ii we wrote the rules to our advantage. russia, that's a harder case to make. certainly they are a disruptor from syria to ukraine to trying to make efforts to disrupt elections in europe and of course here in the united states. but they simply don't have the power or the economic size to revamp the globe. what's really strange about the national security strategy, all are a bit of a compilation, is that this one sounds tougher on russia and what it's doing than the president who is putting it out. and he's insisted on giving a speech this afternoon which should be quite interesting, about the national security strategy which is really an effort to take us past speeches, the tweets, everything else, and try to encompass them in one

intellectual framework. >> let's put up the four main bask epts that the speech is going to encompass today. protect homeland security, advance american influence. i want your takedown. there is more language amendmented in this except they are not breaking out election interference as a big deal in the sum of this strategy. but what's your take? >> chris, you're absolutely right. one of the things that you always look for in a national security strategy is what's missing, right? so in this case the biggest national security issue that we have been talking about all year has been the need for a comprehensive strategy to keep russia or any other power from doing what russia did in the 2016 election. the president avoided creating a

presidential commission for this. he called for an end to the russia investigation because it's a witch-hunt, in his phrase. and the national security strategy does not have any sort of overarching look the operations here. >> david sanger, always a plus. thank you for being part of the "new day" family. >> thank you, chris. great to be with you. have a great holiday. >> you too. alisyn? >> what is president trump saying about the russia investigation behind closed doors? we have exclusive cnn reporting about the president's new outlook on the probe. that's next. ♪ ♪ give a little bit ♪ ♪ give a little bit... -hello. ♪ give a little bit... ♪ ... of your love to me oh, haha.

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[ clacking continues ] good questions lead to good answers. our advisors can help you find both. talk to one today and see why we're bullish on the future. yours. talk to one today and see why we're bullish on the future. they appear out of nowhere. my secret visitors. appearing next to me in plain sight. hallucinations and delusions. these are the unknown parts of living with parkinson's disease. what stories they tell. but for my ears only. what plots they unfold. but only in my mind. over 50% of people with parkinson's will experience hallucinations or delusions during the course of their disease. and these can worsen over time, making things even more challenging. but there are advances that have led to treatment options that can help.

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feel that tingle of a cold sore only abreva can heal it in as little as two and a half days when used at the first sign. abreva starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. abreva acts on it. so you can too. this is an attack on the presidency at levels we have

never seen before. >> i do not at all believe mr. mueller has been compromised. he's beyond reproach. >> i haven't heard about any of this firing. but we have to get past this. >> i wish john well. i understand he will come if we need his vote. >> millions of middleclass taxes go up. >> the lights just went out. everything went out. >> right now we don't know the cause of the fire. >> i want to express my sincere apologies to the thousands of passengers. >> it is is extremely frustrating. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo or alisyn camerota. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to your "new day". we begin with a cnn exclusive for you. multiple sources tell cnn president trump is quietly confident about the outcome of the russia investigation as his personal attorneys prepare to meet with the special prosecutor