they're making jokes i'm disappointed with the size of his paws. one thing that trumpy bear cannot do, can't tweet, no fingers. >> i'm proud to have trumpy bear riding by my side. >> reporter: its maker is planning new design changes in the new year but it will still come with -- >> the special certificate of authenticity. >> reporter: so you know who can't say -- >> why doesn't he show his birth certificate? >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. ♪ so, this is the bill right here. we're very proud of it. >> he initially wanted to have a press conference. his aides prevailed on him not to have one. >> i could have started with infrastructure. i actually wanted to save the easy one for the one down the road. >> if he wants democratic votes then i want to see his taxes. i want to see that what we're

doing is not lining his pockets. >> president trump's longtime secretary rona grant is in the latest investigation of investigation of the russian medding. >> in the eyes of isis in syria and iraq. >> well, good morning, everyone. i'm rene marsh in for christi paul. thanks for joining us. >> i'm victor blackwell. good morning to you. president trump is spending christmas break at his florida resort mar-a-lago. >> and the president is cheering what he calls the largest tax cut in history. let's backtrack, it's actually the fifth largest cut since the '60s. despite his excitement, aides told him he shouldn't do those end of the year traditional press conferences for fears that questions about russia could

overshadow the tax bill. >> and those turns are coming as investigators we know interviewed the president's longtime personal assistant as part of the investigation into the meeting between donald trump jr. and several russians. >> dan joins us live near the florida resort. dan, no doubt it's a big one for president trump at the end of the year, but of course his aides didn't want him to step on that. >> reporter: good morning. it's a huge win. it's actually surprising for many of us covering the president he had a relatively small signing in the oval office and didn't do that traditional press conference. he ran a campaign based on that and it was surprising that this huge victory that he had that he didn't do a bigger event. he noted in the oval office he wanted to do something bigger in january. as you noticed his aides suggested to him maybe let's not

do a press conference. they want this tax bill to be the focus. i think it's a huge win. and they want to be talking about that not about questions about russia and a whole host of other issues. here's here at mar-a-lago for the winter holiday where he's surrounded by a lot of longtime friends. he's really most comfortable here. as the calendar turns to 2018, there's a focus on whether the president can hold the house and senate. president trump was asked if he can go out and sell this tax bill, take a listen to what he said. >> i don't think i will have to travel too much to sell it. i think it's selling itself. it's becoming very popular. but i think it will really, you will see something on february 1st, when open up the paycheck. >> reporter: that's kind of wishful thinking for the president. he doesn't think he'll have to travel to sell this bill. that it will sale itself. it's an unpopular bill, however. 45% of americans disapproved in november. more now, 54% according to a cnn

poll disapprove of that bill. so the president will have to step out and sell this bill, as well as other republicans. it's critical for the president's future agenda which she say could be welfare reform or infrastructure. it's critical that they hold the small majorities in the senate so they have a chance of getting that done. if that happens many republicans acknowledge that the president will to step out and sell this bill and turn it from an unpopular bill to something that the american people support. >> dan merica, thank you, dan. the ceo of white house correspondent from bloomberg news and matt visor deputy chief of "the boston globe." >> good morning. nancy pelosi put out a statement. and that the republicans will be wrapping up the investigation

into the potential russian collusion soon. and we now have the response saying from paul ryan's spokeswoman saying pelosi would like to see this investigation to go on forever. whenever 2 concludes next month, next year or three years she will say it's too soon. how is it going to happen in short order? >> the time line when is when the investigation of robert mueller's investigation wraps up. but it does appear that house leaders are looking to wrap this up, going up to new york to do that review with the president's longtime assistant. for the democrats, of course, they see this to some extent that they see with the president, i would say it's interesting to watch paul ryan's language a few months ago, back in the summer, talking about how mueller was absolutely not a

partisan, how he had been appointed by a republican, was a republican. trying to end this from politicizing it. you're seeing a different tone amongst republicans while they support mueller raising questions about that investigation, republicans do not want this dragging into 2018, but it will, as long as mueller's investigation is continuing. >> and we heard from people who are close to those who are part of mueller's team that they should plan to be part of that investigation. and that among other hinthings bringing up up the point that he is among those that may bring political charges based on what the house investigation finds. based on the partisanship that we've seen, especially in the investigation with chairman nunez, having to recuse himself. and they're still issuing subpoenas. i mean, what fruit can come from this investigation in the house? is it now pretty much null?

>> it's hard to say. i mean, you're anticipating, the anticipation is to be sort of two different reports. one from the republicans, one from the democrats. it sort of tells you where the investigation is headed with the partisanship and disagreements between both parties, of what prism through which they look at this investigation. there are some things that they can do, and ashley strong, the spokeswoman for paul ryan alludes to some of this. preparing for the midterm elections. making sure what happened in the 2016 election didn't happen in the leadup to the 2018 elections. i think congress can do something in that vein. but even that is a little bit difficult to tell, given that the president is still, you know, to have not on board that there's a problem to deal with in the first place. >> matt, let me stay with you, a

source who has nothing of the session has confirmed that rona graff, the president's longtime secretary and personal assistant was questioned by the criminal investigation, mueller's team, agency part of their look into potential russian collusion. detail for us how essentially she is to this investigation. >> she is, you know, one of the longest serving people who has been around trump outside of his family. >> let me correct that, investigators of the house intelligent committee. but go ahead. >> she's been with trump for 30 years. she is the person through which phone calls -- you'd call rona, and she would patch you into donald trump. she's the conduit for him in the ups and downs of his business career. so, she's very close to trump. she knows trump very well.

she's been loyal to trump. so, i do think she's one of those people who could potentially shut some light on trump's past interactions with russians. you know, she was not part of the campaign ''r apparatus as m. there were other aides around at that time. she's a person who knows trump and knows his world quite well. she wasn't necessarily inside some of those meetings, but she could have been setting them up. >> margaret to you, we learned from cnn's jeff zeleny that the president did want to hold that end of the year news conference before heading off to mar-a-lago. but his advisers said he shouldn't because they expected head would be besieged, their term, by the russian investigation. likely he would have. by that logic, considering the investigation could stretch deep into 2018, are we not going to

see say news conference from the president for most of the year? will he not do a non-fox news interview? there has to be a better strategy than not answering questions. >> i have to tell you i won't terribly surprised at the l reluctance to do so. it would, of course, have turned into issues that have nothing to do with the tax bill and the tax bill is what the president wanted or his team wanted, to end the year on notewise. but i think since the first interviews or 100 days we see far fewer interviews with the president. you can't seen the news conferences that allow a give and take and substantial discussion of the issues. the president has preferred the last minute shouted questions in the oval office. or even most favorite, outside, as he's getting ready to board the helicopter, the drama of the

urgency of the helicopter. and background. and his aides are concerned if he does a full news conference, eight or nine questions, that he might decide to answer some of those questions and it might take on a life of its own. i hope in the new year that he continues the tradition of news conferences. it's important for transparency. it's important that americans know what he's thinking on these issues during the sound bites that we've been able to get in the rushed conversations but it's complicated. >> the last television interview that was not on fox was back in may with lester holt when he revealed what he was thinking when he fired james comey. the last formal news conference was in february. it's been a long time. thank you both. well, a former marine is accused of planning to attack san francisco during the holidays. we have details on how the

alleged plot was stopped. and 100 million people planning to travel. dangerous weather conditions could hurt. and overcoming odds, a local football player both on and off the field. >> i just feel like i have somebody in front of me, it made me do better in school. made me want to do better in life. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis and you're talking to your rheumatologist

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and lieutenant colonel mark hea hartling. the majority say trump is very well when it comes to the war on isis. however, when you look at attacks here on u.s. soil, they don't feel as confident. how do you explain that contrast? >> thanks, it's interesting, i actually started my career in iraq working with lieutenant journal hurtling on things like terrorism. we felt like we had a lot of success against terrorists there. and then they came back. it underscores the point that military strikes and kinetic operations are a very important part of counterterrorism strategy around the world. that's why the global coalition around the world, has the flow

on isis. and at the same countering isis propaganda. i think it underscores the fact that we have had military success against isis. the iraqi prime minister declared iraq as fully liberated from iraq a few weeks ago. and president trump and president putin said they they've been cleared of isis. but that doesn't make us safer. here in new york city alone we've had two terror attacks. despite the fact that we've deprived isis safe havens which is a very good achievement, they still have the ability to dominate digital space. and we need to decrease isis' ability to reach people through the internet. >> lieutenant general, we've heard the allegations against

isis. and that they protect the homeland. the president has focused on immigration, whether it's the travel ban, whether it's the wall, as ways to protect the homeland. but we haven't heard the administration talk that much about the focus of homegrown terrorists who are inspired by isis. what do they need to do? >> well, i think, rene, first of all, good morning. one of the key things and sam hit it very well is terror knows no politics. this poll that you cited i found it very interesting as i read through it where it said led likely to anticipate terror when the president is a never of your preferred parties. that's silliness, because terrorists will strike when they want to and how they want to. like we've seen with iraq and syria, they've certainly been decimated in conventional fight and the ability to hold on to the cities. as you said, there's a lot of homegrown terrorists and cyber,

agency you mentioned. and as sam mentioned, the fight against isis, we might have been successful, but i think we'll see them go into a new phase of operations where we have not seen before. where those who were not killed are going to go in the mountains and continue to fight on. and they'll be going beyond what we've been talking about for several years. it's got to be a fight against the ideology of isis. and extreme islamism. >> because, sam, we haven't heard from the administration their plan for how to deal with those homegrown-inspired sort of attacks. similar to what we saw in new york city in the subway station. >> exactly. and i don't doubt that there is extensive work under way in smis space. but i just think we need to fundamentally reorganize ourselves when it comes to combatting extremism online. i worked ted u.s. treasury

department and there was a dedicated entry that worked on counterfinance and ability to. thwart that in the infrastructure. i think we need something in the digital space. but at the same time, we have to stop focusing on the wrong enemy. and all of this talk about the travel ban and border wall is frankly a distraction and miss allocation of resources. >> right. >> the two terror attacks we saw in new york in the last couple weeks, yes, they were radicalized domestically. and when they were reading content within the united states as immigrants to this country. so, i think we need to be very clear about where we're trying to strike the threat. and not distract attention and resources away from that objective. >> okay. really quickly, the president

rolled out his national security strategy this week. let's take a listen. >> we also face rival powers, russia and china, that seek to challenge american influence, values and wealth. we will attempt to build a great partnership with those and other countries. but in a manner that always protects our national interest. >> well, he singled out russia as one of the rival powers that seemed to have ruffled putin's feathers. putin calling it aggressive. does this escalate rather quickly, lieutenant hertling? >> it does not. the national intelligence is governed by intelligence and what they know. talking about expansion and threat. and the president and national security calls it revisionist power attempting to create discord in the u.s. and it's true since 2008 since

russia attacked into georgia they have continually tried to disrupt the western world order to their advantage. so, it's contrary to what the president is saying and a ditz connect to what he's saying in the paper of the nss and what he's saying verbally but it's not contrary to what we believe for the last few years. >> samantha vinograd and lieutenant general hertling, thank you. officials say they stopped a terror plot in san francisco. they say the person planning it, a former marine who pledged allegiance to isis. we'll tell what you they say he wanted to do. plus, dangerous travel conditions shaping up for the u.s. as heavy rain and snow move in. we'll have the details coming up. then, make a mountain out of that reddi-wip.

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welcome back, i'm rene marsh in for christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. the fbi said its agents have thwarted a terror attack plotted for san francisco. the peier 13 for the holiday season. >> everitt aaron jameson told the fbi he wants to show his support for isis. cnn's jessica schneider has the details.

>> reporter: the fbi has thwarted a plot that targeted san francisco around the holidays. authorities say everitt aaron jameson was plotting to stage an attack on pier 39 in san francisco some time over the christmas holiday. and the fbi agents who were tracking him online say he was modeling his planned attack on those over the past few years including san bernardino. in fact, jameson voiced his concern for that attack on january 20th. that was when eight people were killed on a bike path. and then the complaint says jameson recently became a tow truck driver in his hometown of modesto, california, leading to concerns that he could attempt that exact same type of attack he saw in new york city. the criminal complaint also details the letter that authorities found inside his home under a search warrant this week. the letter said things like you all brought this upon yourselves. and you've allowed donald j. trump to give away al quds to the jews.

that's a reference to jerusalem. also he said, we have penetrated and infiltrated your disgusting country. now top officials here in the u.s. have been warning as recently as last month about this uptick in isis-inspired attack right here in the u.s. and the fbi did a search of jameson's home 90 miles south of san francisco and they found firearms, empty magazines, ammunition and fireworks. jameson is now in custody. jessica schneider, cnn, washington. well, california's modesto bee said that jameson's attorney has denied the allegations contained in the affidavit. well, potentially dangerous travel conditions this holiday weekend for millions of americans. >> let's bring in cnn's meteorologist allison chinchar. any idea who is seeing the worst of it and when? >> right now, it would be the area around boston, they're actually getting straight ice. not only when you're talking air travel but definitely on the

roads. here you can see the purple color, user got purple and pink indicating ice and wintery mix. you've got a lot of rain searching through cincinnati and the snow that's behind that. this system is going to continue to push offer to the east as we go through the rest of the day, cities like new york, washington, d.c., boston, pittsburgh, these are all going to be cities impacted by this. so what does that mean in terms of your actual travel plans. we take a look at what we've got in terms of potential delays throughout the day. as we talked a lot of cities under that risk. boston, rfq, stretching to d.c. notice we're even talking cities like charlotte and atlanta. tomorrow, that system pushes out and the next system begins to take shape in areas of the midwest, boston, detroit, even around cincinnati. then the turn becomes what happens on actual christmas day. the majority of the country is actually going to see their temperatures drop. we're talking new york city, for

example. take a look at this. going from 54 today, down to 39 for the high temperature on christmas day. now, the cooldown is going to impact areas of the upper midwest. places like minneapolis, green bay. but it also brings chance for snow so when we take a look at a city like chicago, temperatures not too bad, upper 20s and low 30s. victor and rene, we've got a chance for snow on christmas eve, so many people in chicago will be waking up to fresh new snow. >> thanks, allison. still to come. senate democrats had to cave on a daca fix. now the hispanics dreamers are questioning whether they will keep their promise for next year and when. we'll discuss that.

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the hispanic caucus and daca re recipients, activists as well are reeling after democrats postponed action on the daca program for the third time. there was no fix in the september spending bill. no fix on the two-week spending bill on october 8th. no fix on the spending bill thursday before the government ran out of funding. democratic leaders insist they have the strategy to fix the daca on january. will they deliver on the promises here to discuss is maria cardona and chairman of the pac and a. scott bolden. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> let's start, maria, from what

we heard from minority leader in the house nancy pelosi from earlier this year in november. >> i have to see what the spending bill is. but i fully intend that we will not leave here without the dream act passing. with the daca fix. and i've made that very clear. >> we will not leave. well, they left, and it didn't happen. explain how this is not a promise broken here? >> well, first of all, let's remember that democrats do not control congress. they don't control the house. they don't control the senate. they have very limited leverage. >> but she knew that when she said it. >> sure. but what she was doing, certainly pushing not just democrats but republicans as well. let's remember there are many republicans who have also made the promise to fix daca, the deferred action for childhood arrival as for optionalmost a m kids who came here through no

fault of their own, from the president who took that away in them are now in limbo. and what she's facing today is protecting these dreamers as we call them is a huge priority for democrats. it a huge priority for american voters. and the thought, the hope was that republicans would also make sure this is a priority for them. we know many support this. there is a bipartisan bill in congress right now that if republicans had the political will to put it on the floor right now it would pass overwhelmingly with bipartisan support. >> and also the justice said in voting for the tax cut that he got some confirmation there would be a daca fix as well. >> exactly. >> let me get to scott because i don't have a wohl lot hole lot . >> sure. >> this is obviously something that has bipartisan support as maria pointed out in the senate. but if they do, there will be a daca fix for the roughly 800,000

children who came here through no fault of their own but we want money to start building this wall. is that a fair exchange? >> it's not a fair exchange, quite frankly. >> should democrats take it? >> of course they should not take it. this is a brauripartisan suppor. and schumer has given a commitment to 17 or 18 hispanic members of the house as well as other members of the senate that they're going to lay down the law on this. but this is lis about political capital. the democrats have committed to spending political capital on this. there's republicans as well. remember, the backdrop for this is 2018 and that's as important to the republicans as the democrats on this daca issue. >> and doug jones the senate

candidate heading to the senate in january. and those who worked to get out for doug jones in that special election a couple weeks ago. the ticker-tape from jones' victory is barely swept from the floor and we're already seeing him pandering to the right and at thing away from the right and interests of the people who elected him. just a few weeks ago he told jake tapper it's time to move on from the sexual harassment allegations against the president and some in the senate who said that the president should resign. are you concerned about the degree to which doug jones will fullfy the promises he made to democrats to win this race. considering how conservative, how ruby red of a state alabama is and what you've seen already? >> i'm not worried yet and i hope i won't worry once he gets in. this is hardcore politics. and jones winning is certainly more than roy moore being there. he's coming from a red state,

african mer-americans voted to support him. and he owes a lot of people who aren't ruby red, if will you. it's going to be tough. you but we have to keep politicians like jones accountable. and we have to press them and make them vote for what we want them to support that's usually in the best interest of america. >> maria, he's just filling out from jeff sessions back in 2014 so he's going to be back on the ballot. your concern from what we've seen from the short couple weeks from the election? >> i would echo what scott said. he's in a difficult position and he has a tight rope that he has to perform in the next two years but i'm going to give him confidence and the benefits of

the doubt because he is from alabama and the communities that supported him. he understands the issues that are important to the voters of alabama. and he ran a fantastic campaign. >> right. >> and i believe the relationships that he's actually nurtured for decades on ground are relationships that he'll continue to respect. and that he will mirror the issues that are important to most alabama voters. and like scott said, what's important to most alabama voters. the economy, health care. i do believe the issues of sexual allegations will be front and center as well. and scott mentioned -- or, i'm sorry, doug jones mentioned that this is something that moving forward, to the degree that these women need to be heard. all of these issues will be issues that will help him going into the reelection campaign. >> maria cardona, scott bolden, thank you so much. up next, proof that one person can truly turn a person's

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a high school quarterback in north carolina was homeless failing in school and suddenly found himself ineligible to play. >> you'll want to take a couple minutes to watch this. stop what you're doing and watch this. cnn's diane gallagher shows us how a man stepped up. >> reporter: a senior quarterback with a 95-yard touchdown run to win a state

championship game. leading a team that just two years ago had a 1-10 record to their first state title in more than six years. >> champions! >> reporter: historic. impressive, but this is a story about much more than football. this is a story about a coach, quarterback and a little but loaded question that changed their lives. late summer 2015, harding university high school, charlotte, income. >> number one goal overall. >> reporter: sam greiner, a first-year coach tasked with turning around abysmal program, breaking bad news to sophomore b brahaem murphy. >> he's so smart.

>> reporter: but he didn't have the grades to play. >> i told me that, i went home and cried for two days straight. >> reporter: home, a complicated word in braheam's life then. >> me and my sister stayed at a friend's life. >> reporter: when he was 5 years old, he lost his mother to a brain aneurysm. >> my dad loves me, but he was going through problems. >> reporter: coach greiner started to realize when he dropped him off at home it was never the same place twice. >> eventually, he opened up to me, i have to stay with my sister place to place. i didn't know what to do. i go into my office and i started thinking something's tugging at my heart. >> reporter: sam greiner has spent years talking faith and football, he called his wife

connie and it was time to practice what they preached. >> he stayed with us. a couple times at dinner, i fell in love. >> reporter: and their daughters 2 and 3 years old at the time absolutely smitten with the new big brother. when it came down to that life-changing question. >> is it okay if i stay with you guys for a little bit. i said brahaem, you can stay as as long as long as you want. >> reporter: it was an adjustment but it worked. >> i felt like it made me dough better in school. it made me do better in life, you know. >> reporter: his grades shot up, straight as. braheam said in finding a family, he also found faith. >> and i also found god. that's a main turn in my life also. >> reporter: and football, well that fell into place. but the story, it's far from

finished. he will leave for college next summer. he earned a scholarship to the naval academy. >> it's going to make me cry. >> oh, my gosh. >> what are you going to tell braheam on graduation day? >> i love him. i wouldn't be more proud of him. >> he's doing a family tree changer. i never had an opportunity to go to west point. he's better than me. connie's trying to go to college right now to earn her career. >> reporter: in charlotte, north carolina, diane gallagher, cnn. >> i told you it was worth it. >> angels on earth. all right. still ahead, the story behind the "christmas carol." bringing to life those in the christmas classic. a wealth of perspective.

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♪ tiny tim and bob cratchit, ebenezer scrooge. you know the names. iconic characters in charles dickens' "a christmas carol." >> cnn explains how dickens brought the characters to life to create the christmas classic. >> reporter: in a gilded frame little three photographs of the

gristled outlined looirn. this is dixis dix dickens looks than he is. he died at age of 58. it's in the building with the blue clock. here on downing street. his writing tools. his quill and ink well. his magnifying box. his cigar box. and something that went with him every time he moved home. he's naturally showing its age, but this is charles dickens natural writing post, this is where he wrote "great expectations." and a copy of "a christmas carol" published 1843, 6,000

copies sold out on christmas eve. it's a beautiful object, finely bound, gold lettering on the front and spine. the first book that dixckens evr published as a book. and the inscription there in color. the museum is currently sharing leach's pencil descriptions, and the one miser ebenezer scrooge. being dickens the story is naturally a tale of two cities. new york is celebrating this christmas with a special exhibition at the library. >> so this is the original manuscript of "a christmas carol" you see the revised pages, heavily revised. it's all pouring out of him. the level of artistry there is

bouncie ing off the page. >> reporter: to see it in his own hand, ebenezer scrooge, bob cratchit and tiny tim. but would you have recognized him from 1850, then 38. in his 40s and 50s "a christmas carol" became one of his favorite readings in his tours. >> they was so brilliant. and the fact that he was also a brilliant actor was such a huge bonus people could scarcely believe their luck. >> reporter: dickens farewell tour in the 1860s earned him the equivalent of $1.5 million. currently a ticket stub in london 1870, this to be among this last.

a mere four months later, the great writer, the great performer of his own works was dead. leaving an empty chair by his writing desk. this engaving became a best-seller that near. nick glass, cnn, london. >> thank you, nick. we'll see you back at 10:00 for "newsroom." >> "smerconish" starts now. ♪ i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. we welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. merry christmas, everybody. we know what the president wants for christmas. credit from all of the media for all of his achievements. he tweeted, sadly the fake mainstream media will never talk about our accomplishments in their end of year reviews.