i think director mueller can do it. and i think this thing can go forward resolute ly to a logica end and i think it's going to be soon. >> well, we don't have any idea of the timing. we know there's an urgency on the part of the white house. we'll see where it goes. only one man knows right now. michael caputo, thank you for your perspective. there is a lot of news this monday morning. what do you say? let's get after it! >> as you said, there's no clau collusion. no collusion whatsoever. >> the fix is in against donald trump from the beginning. >> you' see a concerted effort out of the white house to undermine the investigation. the question is, what are they afraid of? people said we wouldn't get this done. we're on the verge of getting it done. >> senator mccain, i hope he comes back, but i'm confident we will pass this bill. >> what we're seeing here is a massive attack on the middle class. 're all just waiting to get

out of here. it's been a complete nightmare. >> there is no evidence to suggest that the fire was caused deliberately. >> i just want to get home. >> i don't know with we're going to do. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> all right. good morning and welcome to your "new day." it's monday, december 18th, 8:00 in the east. and we begin with a cnn exclusive. multiple sources the telling cnn president trump is expressing new confidence about the outcome of the russia investigation. this as his personal attorneys are preparing to meet with the special counsel tomorrow, and his team. the president believes he will be exonerated, even as his aides prepare for what they're calling a potential presidential meltdown if things don't go his way. >> this as lawyers for the president accuse mueller's investigators of using improper channels for obtaining e-mails from the trump transition team. mueller offering a rare response. he maintains it was all done by the book. cnn's sara murray is live at the white house with the breaking

developments. good morning, sara. >> good morning, alisyn. look, we are told privately that president trump has been less agitated about the special counsel's investigation into potential collusion between the trump campaign and russian officials and that the president is even telling some friends and allies that he expects a letter of exoneration from mueller. now, part of this stems from conversations the president is having with his legal team, and his legal team has a very optimistic view that in the coming months, relatively quickly, mueller will clear the president and the white house of any wrongdoing. but when you talk to people who are familiar with the mueller probe, when you talk to other lawyers involved in it, they don't have such a rosy view. they say there's really no indication that mueller is wrapping up his work. we spoke to about three dozen people, people who work in this white house, people who are close to the president, people who are involved in the mueller probe to get this assessment and one of the big worries from trump's allies is that if this timeline doesn't work out to the president's benefit, he could have a meltdown. a key tipping point in this could be this week when mueller and his team are sitting down

with the president's lawyers. now, if there is an assessment that maybe this is wrapping up quickly, that could buoy the president ee's spirits. but if there is some kind of indication that this is nowhere near its end, trump's allies worry that he could make a drastic move, like trying to move forward, for instance, with trying to fire mueller. the president spoke to reporters yesterday and he insisted that is nowhere on the table. he is not considering any sort of firing. but we've already seen the president's allies out will trying to take aim at investigators on mueller's applapplteam. that could be a sign of more to come. back to you. >> all right, thank you so much for the reporting, sara. very, very insight iin ininsigh. let's discuss and welcome back john slavalon and chris cillizz. >> thank you. he is calm because his lawyers are telling him that in the words in the story, that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. ty cobbs said it was thanksgiving. his timeline has moved a little bit, but that there's no evidence that they see coming

forward that he is in real legal jeopardy and that this will end sooner rather than later. on the "sooner rather than later" piece, i don't know that we know that that is to be the case. i thought the flynn plea deal was telling in that regard. the fact that flynn pled to what we assume was one of the lesser charges against him suggests that mueller thinks that flynn has some -- a story to tell, presumably about people above him. there aren't that many people above him. i would assume that means it's going to go on for a little longer. but again, with trump, he's calm now. at 8:00 p.m., at noon, who knows? that's the thing -- and you'll know, because he's take to twitter. he is -- you know, when he got off the plane yesterday, when he left on friday, he made comments both times about the investigation. no collusion, no collusion whatsoever. many people are upset at the fbi. it's not as though he's not

thinking about it, because he is. >> but he did sound subdued in those comments. they weren't fiery comments. but either way, that hasn't stopped -- if he's feeling more sanguine, it hasn't stopped his team from making the -- trying to put chinks in the armor of the mueller investigation. so latest are these e-mails, okay? the transition team says that mueller's investigators got them through ill-gotten ways, but they were dot gov e-mails which are in the public sphere. those are government e-mails that theoretically, i think, according to jeffrey toobin, we are all entitled to know about. >> absolutely. and it exists before they take office so executive privileges are a reach. their argument, basically, is they are misinformed. we thought anything we said during the primary wuould remai our property, which doesn't make any legal sense. >> or factual sense. because they were told they should not have an expectation

of privacy. >> that's right. and also, just, if you are beginning a presidential transition, it is self-evident or it should be self-evident that these are public documents in the public interests. >> but that's a lot more high-minded than the christmas gift i just got from michael caputo. michael caputo, who was very important to the trump campaign for a while, he just admitted, on television, maybe he was tired, hey, look, this is what people do in politics. this is what the clintons did during that probe and that's what other people during the probe? so literally, that makes it okay? i thought you were going to be better and you didn't need to play those kind of games. and now you admit this is what you do when you're being investigated? you attack the investigation? >> remember, aside from "lock her up," a very popular chant during the trump years, another one was "drain the swamp." i wrote about it at time. that was a compelling message for a guy like donald trump, people are fed up with washington and sick of washington politics. but what you have michael caputo come on and saying, look, the game is baseball and that's what

we need to play. well, remember, donald trump was elected to fundamentally break that system. his election was heralded as a sign that people were fed up and they wanted something -- and he represented this -- something radically different. that's what's difficult. look, obama did some of this, not to extent, but remember, barack obama essentially said, we're not going to have any lobbyists be a part of our administration. they found a lot of loopholes to it. the swamp trends to drain you more than you drain it. >> the swamp gets restocked. but i think what's different in this particular situation is the steady drum beat of attacks on the fbi, on the investigation, from surrogates, in addition to the administration's actions. and the president may believe that he's going to be exonerated and feeling pretty upbeat at mome moments, but if it's all predicated on being told by his lawyers that the end is near and the end is not near, that blowback is going to be considerable and the repercussions can be -- >> but i also thought that michael caputo said another really compelling thing, and

that is that they thinks that mueller has licked the problem, pretty much. because if there were people with anti-trump bias in the investigation, he's gotten rid of them or made moves to begin to get rid of them. >> one he moved on, one he -- >> but strzok, he moved on and if he gets rid of the other one, basically, problem solved. >> the flynn plea deal to me just stands out there. why do that? michael flynn, from all the cnn reports we know about, there were ties to turkey. there was a lot there and he pled guilty to lying to the fbi. now, i mean, i don't want to plead guilty to lying -- it's a criminal charge, but out of everything that was there, why? bob mueller is an experienced prosecutor. he's not going to offer a paralegal if he thinks michael flynn has nothing to say, particularly nothing to say about people above him, right? that's the way these investigations -- >> look, we'll see. look, the truth is, the mueller thing is a mystery. we don't know what's going on inside that investigation. the only thing that we know for sure is that the idea -- i've had a lot of experience around federal einvestigations.

the idea that this has taken a long time is absurd. it's not true. but beyond that, it is a lot of mystery. the irony that the president of the united states only offers something congratulatory to united states intelligence services when vladimir putin basically tells him to. vladimir putin, thanks the united states for giving them information that helps stop a terror attack in st. petersburg, i wonder if they would return the favor. i wonder if that's how it worked during the boston bombing intelligence. but when he says thank you, he says, yeah, our intelligence services are awesome. that's what it took? >> just as a reminder, last week, said the fbi was in tatters. again wi again, i think it's important. he says and does so many things that are directly contradictory to one another, it's important to note these things. this is a guy who has sought to, and on a number of occasions, undermined our intelligence officials. he continues to not accept the conclusion that russia

purposefully interfered in the election, when it's a unanimous belief from the intelligence community. >> not only in the intelligence community, apparently in his own capitol. >> he's made a political decision. he believes the president of the united states -- and we know this a million ways from sunday, including from his own mouth -- every time interference is he said, he thinks it's bad for him. the problem is, i don't see any indication that any of these committees or anybody is coming up with anybody to stop it the next time. the national security speech he's going to give today, it's not even one of the major buckets of how to stop. it's like done by implication. and that's the shame in all of this. >> yeah, and that speech today is a big deal. we focus on a lot foft breaking news. we focus on the urgent. but these security statements are actually strategic statements of policy, they've been worked on by months for people in the pentagon and elsewhere. so pay attention to, where is he getting hawkish? what is he sidestepping? whether it's cybersecurity or the russia investigation. this is a document that matters and it's our job to make those important stories interesting. >> do we have a preview?

>> it's just being leaked right now. so i think we're going to wait to take a look at and what we seem ways not being addressed is prussia and election -- >> we know more what's not in there than what is in there at this point, because we know election reform, which is thing barack obama put a big price on and said, we need to focus on this, the integrity of our elections, both who can vote and interference, is not in there. >> and climate change not being considered a national security issue. >> okay, gentlemen, thank you very much for analyzing all of that for us. so we do have some breaking news for you. power is back at the world's busiest airport. but the logistical nightmare is just beginning at atlanta's hartsfield international airport. the challenge, of course, is getting these tens of thousands of passengers who were stranded now to their intended destinations. cnn's martin savidge has been there all morning. what is it like at this hour, marty? >> reporter: well, alisyn, the good news, as you point out, lights are on. more important, flights are taking off. it's something we haven't seen

since 1:00 yesterday afternoon. this is the problem. this is where yesterday run into today. what i mean by that, there were probably about 50 to 70,000 people stranded yesterday. on any given day, the normal passenger flow through this airport is about 270,000. so all of those people hung up yesterday are running into all of those people traveling today. the beginning of a workweek and a holiday week. a terrible time for this to happen. fire is the cause, at least according to city officials, in the utility tunnels, so bad, it took out the main and the back up system. experts say, then you really didn't have a backup system here. 400 flights, so far, cancelled in atlanta, but the airlines expect by later this afternoon to have the schedule -- they stress, the schedule -- back to normal. that doesn't mean you as a passenger are going to be where you expect to be because of the backlog they're dealing, luggage and everything else on top of it. supreme remarkable patience. they're holding up very, very well, but the real question that those were stranded are asking, how did this happen at the

world's, supposedly, busiest and best airport? and that one really hasn't been answered yet. >> yeah, look, they have a redundancy issue, and i'll have to figure that out. i'm not traveling today, i'm traveling tomorrow. all pain is personal. but what they're dealing with this morning is a heck of a lot better than the alternative. that was scary when those lights went off and they were trying to get those thousands of people out of the airport. manage what would have happened? it could have been a lot worse than just inconvenience. martin, be well. best for the holidays. >> very true. >> always good to see you, brother. so if the new republican tax bill passes, how are you going to do? short-term and long-term? that is a neglected aspect of this analysis. not on this show. we're going to speak with one of the representatives who negotiated the final deal, next. . or joints. but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember.

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doubled. that will certainly simplify this filing process for people who currently yitemize their deducti deduction. the child tax credit is doubled. the refundable portion goes to $2,000. that allows more lower-income families to benefit. the income threshold is a raised and that will allow more families to take advantage of it. but while the bill does offer more benefits, it also eliminates or reduces some popular tax breaks, like these. personal exemptions, eliminated. so that $4,050 for yourself, yourself, each dependents, family with three kids, that could negate tax relief coming to them from other provisions in this bill. state and local tax deductions, what they're calling the salt situation. for people in high-tax areas like new york, california, about 12 big states that all happen on democratic states, by the way, that is going to be preserved. that's going to be a problem. what was an unlimited deduction will now be capped at $10,000.

homeowners, you're going to see a lower mortgage interest deduction. not on current mortgages. those are not affected by the bill. but new mortgages, you'll be able to deduct interest, but only up to $175,000 worth of borrowing, down from $1 million where it is currently. so if the republican tax plan passes this week, those are some of the changes you can expect to see when you file your taxes next year. but remember, go to cnn.com, there's a calculator there, you can put in your personal information and you'll get a better feel for your own stake in this. let's talk about the politics. we have republican congressman diane black of tennessee. she was run of the republican conferree who is negotiated this final tax bill from the house and senate versions. first, it is good to have you on the show. the best for christmas to you and the family. >> thank you, chris. it's great to be with you. >> all right, so michael bloomberg, he's a big shot, he plans to do well because of this tax bill, but doesn't like it. let me show you what he has said.

ceos aren't waiting on a tax cut to jump start the economy. a favorite phrase of politicians who have never run a company or to hand out raises. it's pure fantasy to think that the tax bill will lead to significantly higher wages and growth as republicans have promised. you laugh in the face of michael bloomberg, congresswoman, why? >> i do. because many of the things he says are not true by other statistics and other folks that have given us information, such as, oh, the ceos won't give increases in wages. we know that is true. that study has shown that when companies grow, it benefits their employees. and so, you know wing what he's saying maybe from his own perspective, his own opinion, but overall, we know that when businesses grow, so do employees do better. as a matter of fact, there was an article just out there this weekend from the ceo of delta, who said, when we are able to grow, when we see the economy joel jolted, it helps everybody, including our employees. and here in the state of

tennessee -- let me just say, in the state of tennessee -- >> go ahead, congresswoman. >> -- for someone with an average income, a middle income, we're going to see about an $1,800 reduction in their tax burden. that's a lot of money for people here in middle tennessee. it's estimated about 18,000 new jobs will be created. and the increase in wages will be about another $1,800. so this is a big deal and a big help to the middle income earners. >> right. but now, look, but testing on this is also fairly simple. because we're dealing with maybes versus certainties, okay? these are maybes. maybe wages will go up. maybe the expansion of any type of corporate windfall here will help middle class families. maybe the tax benefits will help stave off the tax increases they get later on. but the certainties seem to not get played enough. you made the corporate tax cuts

permanent. you didn't do that for the individuals? you could have flipped it and made their tax cuts permanent and made the corporate ones temporary, but you didn't do that. and it seems pretty clear why, because you were more worried about making the corporations happy. fair point or no? >> no. so here's what we know. we know when the economy is jolted -- and look, we saw that under both democrat and republicans. we saw it under kennedy, we saw it under reagan and also under clinton. we know that when the economy grows, it helps everyone. it's kind of like that old saying that a rising tide brings up all ships. and so we knew that. we were under what they called reconciliation, so we only had so many dollars that we would be able to use in this plan that we could actually have as a deficit. but what we do know is that this is a likelihood at the end of the period of time, there will be an extension on this. >> was we have seen that promised in the past and not happen. >> well, i can tell you that this is every bit the indication

that this has happened in the past. i know with the bush tax cuts, because we were in a real bad downturn, that that did not happen. >> that's right, it did not happen. >> but in other times -- >> but you never know what's gong to happen. >> well, we never know what's going to happen today or tomorrow, do we, chris -- >> and that's why maybes shouldn't be promised as certainties. >> when we look at the overall plan, we see that this is a plan that can give a jolt to the economy, allow the economy to grow, and i'm fighting for those middle income hard-earned taxpayers right here in middle tennessee and i believe this is going to be a real christmas present for them. >> that's what we keep hearing, and that's certainly what people want. there's no reason not to see wages go up here. there just would have been easier ways to guarantee it if you want to prioritize those people that wouldn't have blown up the deficit. so many people, yourself included, have been so careful about your language about the deficit and the debt over the

years, that it's such a problem, that it's a generational tax that's being passed on. and this tax bill that blows it up in epic proportion. how do you reconcile those two positions? >> what i want to do is i want to look at potato sidboth sides. you know i'm somebody that's very concerned about the deficit. as a matter of fact, as a budget chair, my budget that passed out of the house that did not pass out of the senate was the most conservative budget in 20 years. we did begin to hit that mandatory spending and bring that deficit down. and that's very important. but this is a balance. as we have a jolt in the economy and we see more economics and we see more taxes coming in, we have to be sure that we reduce our spending. and that's something that i'm hoping that we'll begin to do this upcoming year when we're out of this reconciliation. and we'll be able to do some more mandatory spending, because it is a balance. if you bring in more, which did happen actually in some of the previous administrations, where more money came in, but you spend more, you never catch up.

you've got to look at the other side, as well. >> are you worried about going into 2018, where you gave a big tax cut to corporations and still in the maybe phase to see how it works out for people in the working class. and you have to justify this huge deficit that you put on the budget books, as well. are you worried about that? >> i'm always worried about the debt and deficit spending. i'm going to always be worried about that. but i am encouraged, because of, as i say, what we have seen in the past, both in the kennedy administration and also in the reagan administration. look, we saw growth during reagan at 7, 8%. >> but you saw how you cut the taxes then. the tax burden was so high that the cut was dramatic. and it changed economic dynamics in a way that you will not have today. you also had a ballooning deficit and a lot of residual tax growth -- not tax growth, tax increases under reagan as a result, also. doesn't that matter? >> well, look at what's just happened, even without the passage of this bill.

and how the economy has started to grow. look at the markets. we've had a gdp growth sttwo quarters now that was over 2%. we have not seen growth like that under the obama administration or even underneath the prnobama administration the entire time. so this is something that we know does occur. we've seen it in the past. this is not something we're pulling out of the air. when the economy grows, it does not only help individuals, but also helps us. >> we also know we've had the greatest expansion in wall street we've ever seen in our history in terms of taking a look at the markets. the companies are holding more cash than they've ever held before, relatively, and they're not raising wages the way that you promised that they will. why? >> because -- >> because it's better to give it to me as a shareholder. your responsibility is to take care of corporations, not me.

they take care of their shareholders. i'm not judging it or criticizing, it's just the reality. >> why don't you read the delta article that was written by the ceo -- >> i did. i saw it. >> we're not going to be buying back our shares. we're going to be growing our product, because that's what helps us. look, as a business owner, you know what helps me? it helps me to be able to create more jobs and grow my business, because that also helps me when my business grows. >> but when that room of ceos were asked by gary cohn asked, who's going to put this money into more wages, there were no hands that went up. >> i wasn't sitting in that room -- >> i'll show you the video. >> well, it's impossible for me to see the video? >> no, i'll send you a link to your office. >> okay, you send it to me. >> i appreciate it, congressman. >> this is a good thing for the american people. >> i appreciate you making the case to the people on this show. you are always welcome here to do exactly that. >> well, withank you for having me. >> and the best for christmas

and to your family. >> thank you. not a single democrat is planning to vote for that tax bill. did they intentionally sit it out or were they cut out? we'll ask democratic senator joe manchin, next. fight back theraflu's powerful new formula to defeat 7 cold and flu symptoms... fast. so you can play on. theraflu expressmax. new power. the markets change... at t. rowe price... our disciplined approach remains. global markets may be uncertain... but you can feel confident in our investment experience around the world. call us or your advisor... t. rowe price. invest with confidence. (hard exhalation) honey? can we do this tomorrow? (grunts of effort) can we do this tomorrow? if you have heart failure symptoms, your risk of hospitalization could increase, making tomorrow uncertain. but entresto is a medicine that was proven, in the largest heart failure study ever,

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our democratic colleagues had every chance to participate and simply refused. and it's not too late for them to join us in passing this massive tax cut and tax reform bill which will help awaken the sleeping giant of the american economy. they can do that on tuesday. and i hope some of them will. >> that was senator john cornyn responding to a wave of criticism from democrats over the republican tax plan and the timing of it. joining us to discuss is democratic senator, joe manchin, of west virginia. good morning, senator. >> good morning, alisyn. how are you? >> i'm well. >> so is senator cornyn right that you had every chance to participate and you simply refused? >> i like john cornyn, he's a friend of mine, and that's simply not accurate. i have four different occasions and examples of everything i tried to do over a period of time starting in early september clear up to the first of this month. >> and give us some

illustrations of what you -- i know you spoke to the president. give us some illustrations from your wish list there of what you tried to do and you tried to insert and how you were rebuffed? >> this started back in the first of december. i gave him this list. it was shared is with the white house, mark short, it was shared with some of my colleagues on the republican side, also. corporate tax rate at 25%. territorial, repatriation -- >> you're getting lower now. they've lowered? >> i thought it should be 25%, basically. i think that's globally kpe lll competitive. i didn't think we should give the extra $400 to $500 billion -- if we saw that the debt was coming down and the gdp was growing like they say it will, then three to five years from now, you want to go further, you can. i guarantee every corporation was happy with a 10% reduction. zl that w >> so that was at the top of your list. so what happened? when you submitted that list that you have in your hands to the president and mark short and

your republican colleagues, what happened? >> well, nothing really happened. i think once mitch mcconnell decided that they would get 51 republicans -- that's what they kneaded e needed -- that we were no longer in play. they didn't talk to me. i didn't give up. we went to the library, met at the congressional library with mark short and gary cohn. we also, on thanksgiving week, we shared more. and then the last ask i had was at the end of dw-- if you still wanted to make a bipartisan bill, which i thought anybody would want a bipartisan bill, all we asked was reconsider the tax rate at 25%, remove the individual mandate language, which basically we have a fix -- if we didn't have a fix, which is a bipartisan fix with lamar zand alexander and patty murray, that would be a different story, but we have a fix. and outsourcing, which stopped tax havens overseas for corporations that were parking their money. and remove the tax breaks for the highest income earners that

had the biggest breaks. >> so why didn't they take you up on your suggestions? >> you'll have to ask them that. but if they say we didn't spend time, we did. we had other democrats that would vote for these, but it didn't give any traction. once they decided that it was going purely political, down political lines, i'm the least politically party person that's entrenched. i want to do what's right for our country and my state of west virginia and i want to work with the republicans, the president, democrats, everybody. but i think everybody overplaid the their hand on this one. i think they could have had 60 votes or more. the whole thing we're caught on right now, alisyn, is the $1.5 trillion because of the reconciliation -- the gimmick. the gimmick they're using to get a 51 simple majority in the senate. the senate was designed differently. we're supposed to be able to bring people back together in a bipartisan way. make an effort. i think -- i don't think any major piece of legislation should be done in a partisan way. i think the democrats were wrong in 2010, passing the obamacare

affordable care act, with not one republican vote. i know they tried for about a year and had different hearings, but it didn't happen. but still, yet, nothing of this magnitude should be passed without a bipartisan vote. and that's what i tried to do. >> i want to ask you about something else that's happening in the senate. and that is senator al franken. is it true that you believe that senator al franken has been railroaded, basically, by fellow democrats into resigning and that you don't think that he should resign? >> i think that al franken should go through the process of what he's asked for, due process. i believe that we should have a process to where women can come out and be protected, when they have been violated and they should be able to state that and be protected in doing it. and i believe a person that's been accused ought to have a process that we can investigate thoroughly. and whatever the findings are, be prosecuted or be removed or found innocent of those charges

or not of danger to where they should be someone eliminated -- >> right, so you think it was premature that some of your fellow democrats called for it. in fact, i read that you said that the hypocrisy of the democrats about franken has made you sick. what do you mean? >> it did. when i saw human beings lie -- al franken and i don't agree on things politically. i consider al a friend. he says, here, take me through, i have a lot of faults in life, i don't think it's one of these, but do what you want with me. he asked for that and he wouldn't even -- my own fellow democrats wouldn't even give him that courtesy. just the political -- the political can krancor is just unbelievable to me how you can destroy a human's life and his family and everything that they stand for without giving him a chance. that's all i said. and i just think that everyone's caught up. who's going to be -- who's going

to jooutdo the other. it's just ridiculous. >> you think senator franken should not resign in january? >> i definitely think he should not resign. i think he should submit himself, which he has willingly done and offered to do and go through this complete process of an extensive ethics review. and whatever the outcome is, i can live with that. i say, i'm sorry, i have faults that you've never recognized and these ladies have brought this forward. and these ladies should be protected. >> but six have come forward. three of them, i believe, named. what more could an ethics committee find out than the fact that these six women say that he inappropriately touched them and and/or forcibly kissed them? what more are you waiting for? >> i don't know. i want to find out what al says. i know i listened to his speech the same as other senators did. and his speech seemed to be different than what the accusers did. the accusers have their process and they should be protected.

and be able to come forward. let that be confronted and let people investigate, see if this is predatory, see if this is something that's repeated, repeated, repeated. was it when he was in his professional life, which is much different than before, in the professional world he came fr, m where he is today. i'm not defending al, but i'm saying they should have a process that they should be able to go through. >> and do you have any sense that al franken is listening to you? do you think he really will resign in january? >> i don't know. here's the thing about it. i've seen a person that his own caucus has turned on, it just made me sick. it really did. and my caucus knows i'm very upset with this process or lack of a process. the only thing i'll ask for is expedite, put extra investigators, do whatever you have to go through this investigation, through the ethics. and there's nothing worse than being found ethic violations from your own peer group.

but to be accused but never having a chance to defend yourself, his best defense was the day he spoke and he says, i'm going to leave. and my goodness, i think people in that audience that already signed on for him to leave had a second thought. so i think they wish they would have gone through a process, too. >> very quickly, do you think that president trump should be investigated for the accusations of sexual misconduct against him? >> i'm not going to make that determination, because he went through an election process -- >> but that's different than an investigation. >> well, if people feel that to be done, i think there are other things to be done, too. and i think women ought to have a right to come forward. they feel very strong about this. they should protected. they shouldn't be retaliated on -- >> so, yes, an investigation for the president or you've moved on? >> i've moved on. i really have moved on. you know, we're talking about health care. we're talking about a tax cut, not tax reform. things that we need to do to really solidify. we're talking about the military and the lack that they have of

the funds. we're talking about c.h.i.p.s program going down, the children's health insurance program doesn't seem to be a priority. i don't care whether you're a democrat or a republican, you've got to be an american, alisyn. you've got to do things for your country. and if i'm just here for the political process, the right thing for me to do would be to vote for a tax bill in my state that might be popular. but it's not the responsible thing. not when we can fix thing in a bipartisan way and not have this spiraling debt be a chain around our children's neck. >> i hear you, i understand. you want to get back to the business of government, but there does seem to be a bit of a disconnect between why you are calling for an investigation into senator franken, but not one into the president when -- >> senator franken has asked for an investigation. he's asked for an investigation. is that the standard? >> to me, there's a standard here when a person has asked to go through. and president trump this is he went through that scrutiny, basically, when he went through the election process. i would assume -- i'm not going

to speak on that -- i'm speaking on al franken being a colleague of mine sitting there, going, ll go ahead and scrutinize and investigate. i'll sit through that. and that's where we are on this topic. people just want to continue to regurgitate so many things and there are so many important things that we have to deal with. >> understood. senator joemanchin, always appreciate having you on "new day." all right, everybody's getting ready to run around the country and the world. how about your weather? will it affect your flight? we have the forecast for travel, next.

storms are coming and they could disrupt the busy holiday travel week with systems affecting everyone from the rockies to the south, even up the east coast. how do i know? chad myers. he's got the forecast. what do you see? >> i see it's okay, the early part of the week, i think we're going to be in great shape. but on friday, the rain can get to the northeast. not snow, but rain. right now fog still affecting hartsfield-jackson airport, not making that commute any easier. this weather is brought to you by tempur-pedic, where sleep is power. not all that bad. here's how it shapes up for today. the rain is down in the south or the pacific northwest. those are the two options for now. but the pacific northwest storm, right here, that's the one that will bring snow to the rockies and snow to the midwest and then to the great lakes by the time we're into friday. but it's warm enough on friday when everybody is trying to get

out of town that it should be just rain in all of those i-95 cities. so not so bad so far. we'll see. if it changes, we'll let you know, but for now, everybody should get to where they want to go. >> that sounds very good, chad. thank you so much for that forecast. so up next, a woman you have to meet. amy wright. she's the newly minted cnn hero of the year. how she is changing the world from her north carolina coffee shop. that's next. run, jthe power of in to tempur-pedic sleep with our 90-day trial and being the highest ranked mattress in customer satisfaction by jd power, it's easy to love. find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic.com

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and most of all, to my two youngest children, bitty and beau, who are my inspiration. i want you to know, because i know you're watching at home tonight, bitty and beau, that i would not change you for the world. but i will change the world for you. >> oh, my gosh, it was a tear jerker last night. and this morning, that was amy wright, the owner of bitty & beau's coffee. she was accepting the cnn hero of the year award. amy's coffee shop in wilmington, north carolina, employees 40 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. what a thrill it was last night. so many people were pulling for you. so many of the heros are so wildly impressive, but there are something about your personal story, that your own kids have down syndrome and you wanted to change the world because of that. >> it was a very personal story for me. when beau was born 14 years ago, my husband, ben, and i didn't

know anything about down syndrome. and i reflect on that and the fear we felt and the grief we felt and how we transformed that into some of the greatest joy we've known in our lives. >> so you used a statistic that 70% of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities like down syndrome, like cerebral palsy, like autism, are not employed. and so what kind of life is that? >> it's terrible, because, you know, what is happening is these individuals get through high school and then they fall off the cliff. and there is very little opportunity and we feel like the real problem is that it's not that the jobs aren't there, it's that people don't value people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. and so if we can reframe the way people think about people with idd, then opportunities are organically going to follow. >> and you're living that. you're just living this experience, because you opened bitty & beau's coffee shop. you employ 40 epeople with thos

developmental disabilities. and what has been the reaction? what have you learned from that experience and how do customers respond when they come in? >> i think i've learned most of all that people want to connect with people that are different from them. and maybe they've just never had an opportunity to do that before. and so what i feel like the coffee shop has done, it's created that opportunity, it's made it safe, people can wade into the water. they can spend some time together. and i think what they take away from that experience is changing their lives in ways we haven't even realized yet. >> have you seen any evidence of it spreading beyond your coffee shop to across the country? >> definitely. our goal is to expand bitty & beau's coffee. every community could support a coffee shop like this, because it is a national epidemic. but more than that, we hope that people come into the shop or see our story and they look around their workplace and say, we need to hire somebody with an intellectual or a developmental disability. >> very quickly, what did bitty and beau, your 8-year-old and 13-year-old, think last night? >> they were so excited.

our babysitter taped their reaction and it was just priceless. they're just blowing me kisses and high fives. >> oh, my gosh, we want to see that. have you tweeted it or -- >> i haven't. i need to share that. >> we would love to share it for you, as well. amy wright, thank you so much for your story and everything you're doing. you're such an inspiration. >> thank you so much. >> great to talk to you. all right, more good stuff, next. feel the power of theraflu expressmax. new power... ...to fight back theraflu's powerful new formula to defeat 7 cold and flu symptoms... fast. so you can play on. theraflu expressmax. new power. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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a little monday good stuff. there's no question that there's room for criticism of the tax plan and whether helping corporate america is the best way to help workers. but that doesn't mean that businesses don't do the right thing, even when they don't have to. example. meet carrie gill, she's a veteran of the u.s. armed forces and returns from a deployment in

africa and she really wanted to make a difference. >> global pollution and kids without shoes. i wanted to do something good for the world, so i founded savannah sandals. >> she had the idea, but she didn't have the money. she couldn't found the company. but that's where we work came in. now, this business has tons of special programs, including one for veterans. it pairs them with mentors and gives them a sponsored work space. and then even helps them with networking for capital and otherwise >> that last piece of the transition, from military to civilian life, never would have happened if it weren't for this group. >> so thanks to wework, carrie's company that makes sandals out of recycled tires, booming. >> that's awesome. between this good stuff and cnn heros last night, i couldn't feel more inspired and inadequate. so we have to redouble our efforts, everyone, every day, to be as good as all of these angels. >> well, you'll feel better now, because we're tossing to john.

>> you're certainly better than he is. >> you think? >> absolutely. >> he did win the quiz show. >> it was fixed. everybody knows. >> rigged! rigged, as usual. all right, that does it for us. time for "cnn newsroom" with poppy harlow and john berman. >> it was fixed all five times he won. it was not fixed. >> good morning, everyone. i'm john berman. >> and i'm poppy harlow. on a serious note this morning, we do 'begin with breaking news. such a headache for so many people trying to fly in and out of the world's busiest airport, atlanta's hartsfield-jackson international, after being in the dark for 11 hours, we still have hundreds of flights canceled, many more delayed. the headaches far from over. >> a thousand flighted canceled yesterday, and the problems could last through the week, as hundreds of thousands of people try to head home for the holidays. our martin savidge right in the middle of it all at hartsfield-jackson. how do things look this morning, ma