a new year and a new to-do list for trump and his party. >> we have signed more legislation than anybody. >> but his bipartisanship on his congress 2018 agenda? plus, the president's take on the special counsel and what we now know about one of the investigations. and midterm party politics. on the right, the outsiders versus the establishment. >> there's a time and season for everything. and right now, it's a stop siea war against the gop establishment.

>> on the left, the democrats are the opposition party. >> this has been an all-you-can-eat breakfast for the privileged and powerful. "inside politics," the biggest stories sourced by the best reporters, now. welcome to "inside politics. "i'm nia-malika henderson. john king is off today. we begin with breaking news, 2017 is ending with major unrest in iran and president trump cheering on the protesters. we have seen videos of demonstrations of cities throughout iran. at least two people have been killed. protesters say they're fed up with rising food and gasoline prices and with iran's authoritarian government. as we said, president trump is very much taking notice in tweeting, quote, many reports of peaceful protests by iranian citizens, fed up with regime's corruption and its squandering of the nation's wealth to fund

terrorism abroad. iranian government should respect their people's rights, including right to express themselves. the world is watching. vice president mike pence joined in as well with his own tweet, the president and i stand with peaceful protesters in iran who are speaking out for freedom. and we condemn the arrest of innocence. the time has come for the regime and tehran to end terrorist activities, corruption and their disregard for human rights. let's get the latest from cnn senior international correspondent fred pligeigten. fred, what is today likely to bring? >> reporter: today is likely to more bring protests in tehran and other cities as well. it certainly seemed that the tension is building in some areas, not only in the capital, but in other places as well. and one of the things really remarkable about the protests and unprecedented is while the demonstrations themselves take a a -- they are so small, they are

so widespread across the country. not just in bigger cities but in smaller towns as villages. that's something you don't necessarily see in iran. on the other hand, the other big thing is they are not directed against one or another political group. they seem to be against the entire political establishment of iran, the clergy and also large parts of the security forces. so it really seems as to the iranian government, the iranian authorities are dealing with a crisis in confidence rooted much deeper than the economy. people seem to have much longer-standing issues there. certainly the economy plays a role. you mentioned largely rising food prices and gasoline prices as well, but they also seem to want more political for him. and that is what people have noted. two people have already been killed. there have been demonstrations in several parts of the country. and it doesn't seem as though that is something that will

necessitate very soon it. will be interesting to see what the rest of today will bring. it is early in the afternoon for iran. and many are gathering to prevent further demonstrations from happening. >> fred, thank you for your reporting. we look to hear from you as things develop today. now on to domestic news, for president trump and the republican majority, the new year brings new challenges, finalizing the budget is a top priority for both parties and the big four, chuck schumer, paul ryan, and nancy pelosi will meet to discuss what to do off that deadline. he's coming off a huge win with the tax cut law and now comes the real hard work to sell this plan to the public and some skeptical members of his own party. other 2017 agenda wins for trump include regulation rollbacks and appointing conservative judges. but there's still some things left undone.

repealing and replacing obamacare, building the wall and the biggie, infrastructure. now, trump sees some common ground for at least one item on his wish list. and that is infrastructure. >> infrastructure is by far the easiest, people want it, republicans and democrats. we're going to have tremendous democratic support on the infrastructure, as you know. i could have started with infrastructure. i actually wanted to save the easy one for the one down the road. >> the easy one. president trump told the noews the reason they can come to daca and infrastructure, but a day later he tweeted this. the democrats fully understand there can be no daca without the december patly-needed wall at the southern border. and into the chain of why zbrags and ridiculous lottery system of immigration, et cetera. we must protect our country at all costs. here to share their reporting and insights, we have elian

johnson of politico, "the washington post's" karen tumulti, julie bikowits and carmen from the "washington post." happy new year to you. i want to start with karen, what is the watch word here and a new year's resolution, the whole idea of bipartisanship. they will get a crack of it on wednesday when they meet to discuss how to keep the lights on. what do you think? what are the prospects for real bipartisanship going forward? >> pretty dim. we haven't seen a lot of it in washington in a long time. but this is an election year. and election years generally are more about drawing contrasts than coming together. we have seen some rare exceptions. for instance, back in 1996, the republicans in congress decided it was in their interest to cut a welfare reform deal with bill clinton. but those instances are pretty

rare and especially in this climate where the democrats believe, in particular, that they have a real shot at winning that back. >> and trump himself main-checking one of the democrats, at least in that interview he had with "the new york times," talked about joe manchin, who is up for re-election in west virginia. here's what he had to say about joe manchin. joe is a nice guy, but he talks and doesn't do anything. he doesn't do. hey, let's get together, let's do bipartisan. i say, good, let's go, then you don't hear from him. i like joe. it's like he's the great centrist, but he's really not a centrist. feels like if you're trump, you might want to be praising people like joe manchin and not necessarily criticizing him as he did in the interview, eliana. >> wiell, we have seen the president has an interesting way of courting all lice. this is an example. 2018 is going to present

different and bigger challenges than 2017. the white house really ended 2017 with a lot of momentum. signing the tax bill. it came at the end of the year. he had a honeymoon final three months of the 2017 where he decertified israel, declared a new capital, and the tax bill at the close of 2018. it looks to be much more challenge. and the -- i think there are few senior administration aides and members of congress that really think you're going to see an infrastructure bill pass or major entitlement reform, things paul ryan wants. i think aides, you know, white house aides, think the prospects of that are pretty slim. >> and one of the things you'll see from trump is him continuing to try to sell the democrats and

not so high on the direction of the tax bill. at least, i mean, do we expect to see him out there a bit on the stump selling the tax plan? >> i absolutely think he's going to do like a mini tour of some kind to go to places and promote the tax legislation that just pass. it is a historic crowning achievement of the year and came right at the end of the year. i remember a couple days ago it was so surprising that he would do this in a really public way. but he'll redeem himself by taking a tax tour. and over the course of that, i'm wondering if he sort of begins to present himself in a little bit of a different way given his unpopularity, he continues to have low favorability. and he knows this is a midterm

year and it's extremely important to him to keep the majority in the house and the senate. so i wonder if he'll pair a sales taxmanship to something to boost his own power. >> he certainly -- he talks a lot about, he tweeted on saturday in terms of jobs. jobs are kicking in and companies are coming back to the u.s. unnecessary regulations and high taxes are being dramatically cut. and it will only get better, much more to come. what is your take on what is to come from trump? what is to come in 2018 as far as prospects for bipartisanship? >> as karen said, i think it will be slim. there's going to be a nice discussion and find ways to work together across the aisle at the beginning of the year. then when push comes to shove, i don't see how it is there. democrats are already pushing back against the way the trump bill is. and then you wasted money on the

tax bill. it is a referendum on everything before -- you see, we wonder if it is wise or not for trump to build ally, but when trump feels like he's backed into a corner, he starts lashing out at his base. and he needs to worry about the voters more than getting a chance to speak in glowing terms. you may know better about that front. but it seems that if democrats are not willing to play ball, it is not like trump is going to be the type of person to offer a bigger olive branch, and that will lead you to more situations. >> is it clear that republicans are even on the same page in terms of what the priorities should be? you have some saying entitlement reform. others are saying infrastructure. >> first of all, republicans have been dismissive of the infrastructure. the fact that president trump who comes from a building and developing background was so

much in favor of it during the cam. it actually distinguished him from other republicans. so oddly, this is on paper an issue where he should be able to make cause for democrats. but at this point it's hard to see it. >> and the fact that this is even a republican -- we hear paul ryan talking about tackling reform, he's the embodiment -- they are butting heads and coming into conflict. but it is interesting, and i think if the president had tried to tackle infrastructure in his first year in congress. okay, you just came into office, we want to give this a chance. and there was a chance that democrats would have been willing to work with them. it will be much tough tore tackle that in year two. >> and what is in it for the

boys -- >> i don't see any incentive for democrats to work with the white house. >> even if you are joe manchin or claire mccaskill and in the trump states? >> because the president is so unpopular at this point. and because there really isn't sort of a thorough and sincere effort to work between the white house and the hill, even on the republican side sometimes, there just isn't a lot of incentive for any democrat to get out there and try to be the face of bipartisanship with the white house. >> but also the way the president is drawing the terms of engagement is rather puzzling. he's saying that the democrats will only get what they want on daca, the deferred action for people who were brought here as children by their parents

illegally, which is by the way popular. he says, you only get that if you come my way on the wall. the wall is supported by no more than three in ten americans. >> and not supported really by republicans on the hill either, right? >> so he's telling them, you have to come to me on something that is very unpopular. or i won't give you something that is very popular. that's not a deal the democrats are going to want. >> and even on infrastructure, because of the way this is being set up financially where the federal government is not putting all the skin into the game. it's relying on the local governments. he's giving democrats that don't want to play ball a sales pitch to say, this is going to cost you in the end. because it's not actually going to be a boom of the federal government giving us the money we have been waiting for. >> you guys are all pessimists in bipartisanship. up next, steve bannon's promises about a season of war in 2018. we'll look at the states he's targeting and whether he has the political capital to play spoiler. but first, politicians say

the darndest things with a look at "snl"snl's" take on the whit house. >> thank you for coming. yes, this is real life, this is really happening. >> first of all, i just want to announce that i'm calm now. and i will remain calm as long as you sons of [ muted ] i'm not going to do that. >> everyone is celebrating a big tax bill. mitch mcconnell is serving everyone bourbon. i got so drunk i told the truth. >> i'm michael flynn, the ghost of witness. mr. president, i came to warn you, it is time to come clean for the good of the country. >> what the -- >> the good of the country? >> the goobly cun cun?

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steyer: the president's national security adviser -- guilty. his campaign chairman -- under indictment. his son-in-law -- secret talks with russians. the director of the fbi -- fired. special counsel robert mueller's criminal investigation has already shown why the president should be impeached. you can send a message to your representatives at needtoimpeach.com and demand they finally take a stand. this president is not above the law.

looking for a hotel that fits... whoooo. ...your budget? tripadvisor now searches over... ...200 sites to find you the... ...hotel you want at the lowest price. grazi, gino! find a price that fits. tripadvisor. democrat doug jones is said to be sworn in as a u.s. senator this week. and the special election to fill that alabama senate seat made national headlines for months. and its finish has been no different. controversy followed the republican in the race, roy moore, during the campaign, of course, several women came forward accusing him of sexual assault and harassment in the past. now he's refused to concede and filed a complaint claiming voter fraud. >> when we have evidence of fraud from three, and yes, they are experts, one gentleman has three degreed in mathematics and

has written four books on election fraud, and he confirms that there's enough votes, enough fraud that took place in just one county to change the outcome of this election. it is the job of john merrill to make sure the elections are free and proper and that they are fair. >> alabama secretary of state who certified the election results last week says that moore and his supporters are just flat-out wrong. >> up i don't think there's any doubt in anybody's mind that followed this election objectively that this election has been conducted with the utmost integrity, that it's been safe, secure, it's been credible. the results have the credibility to protect the people of alabama. they expect and demand it. >> eliana, when you talk about the race, doug jones is going to be seated on wednesday. and you have to talk about steve bannon. he was very instrumental in this race and said the ship has sailed on roy moore.

in some ways, he's sort of on that ship as well. >> sailing away. >> sailing away, possibly. what do you make of how powerful bannon is now in the wake of what happened in alabama? >> you know, in general, i think bannon's power has been overstated. he joined the trump campaign after it was well off the ground and after trump had gained a lot of popularity. and though he positions himself as the tribunal of trumpism, i think we have seen over the past several months that he really has distinguished himself and distanced himself from the president in a lot of ways. and i wonder whether voters will begin to pick up on this one. he's criticized the president for being soft on china. he's endorsed candidates who are different from the president. and he spent a lot of his time

since he's left the white house really undermining and criticism the president. so i do question whether the extent to which he spent time criticizing and undermining trump, that voters will begin to pick up on the fact that these are two different people and n bannon-ism does not undermine trump-ism. >> but we saw this in alabama. he can bring in a bannonite candidate, be a spoiler in a primary, and that can do damage to the republicans come november if, in fact, particularly in some of these critical districts, if they have candidates who are just too extremist. >> he's targeted whether voters begin to understand that steve bannon comes down there.

>> you mention the fights he wants to get into. you wonder about the next alabama -- here are some of the contests he wants to play in utah, nevada, arizona, mississippi, get in those primary fights. julia, you have written about bannon and donors, how they feel about him. what do you see coming from him in terms of power? >> even before alabama went totally south for republicans, donors were very skeptical of what it is steve bannon wants to do. he talks a big game and talks about shaping up the republican field, but even though you are steve bannon and you have sort of bandwidth from the president. it is still very expensive to challenge all sorts of republicans and senators. and so donors have been waiting to see who else gets in with him. it is sort of a game of chicken

at this point to see which donor will go first. and i think there really isn't a clearer source of funding at this point for some sort of large-scale steve bannon-led insurrection. >> it's good that he's getting himself press, he was on the cover of "newsweek," but it is clear that he does have some power in terms of maybe pushing some republicans towards the retirement, you know, the exits here as charlie dent sort of talked about his decision to retire. >> i would say the president was a factor but not the factor for me to try to leave. we are in a challenging term of environment. the president, he typically loses 32 seats in a midterm like this. so i think most of my colleagues are well aware of the historical challenges that we face. and donald trump complicates that because he's a very polarizing figure.

so i suspect that our challenges will be even greater. >> i think that is true, but i think that is what you saw happen in 2017. you saw a lot of people saying, all right, i'm out, i'm not doing this again. this is not the congress i want to be in. this is not the race i want to run. i'm clearly not forthis right now. >> the chaos of this up age. >> right. the they yos chaos of this age. then they have established a different soap box for themselves, that's not fair, but a different platform to speak about themselves in a way unincumbered and to run against a backed primary challenger. but i think at this point, correct me if i'm wrong, but probably dealing with the field you've got for 2018, i mean, the year to announce your retirement, unless something dramatic happened, has passed. everybody in it is probably in it until 2018 has stared down the barrel of the gun, what have

you, that's probably too far, but he's right in identifying the climate that led a lot of people to say, i'm not doing this anymore. also, you've already had alabama happen. and you have had people like mitch mcconnell say, pretty strongly worded snide things. but we are not believing that anymore. so if the republican party decides to shift as a result of that and say, we are going to stand up to this. and he's successful and doesn't lose both houses of congress or one in the process, we would probably see that retirement go stan ch. if it goes the other way, maybe you'll pick it up in 2019. >> we'll see. just ahead, trump's mindset on special counsel mueller and the russia investigation. why the president claims that the probes may actually be helping his image and not hurting his image. well, like most of you, i just bought a house.

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we're back with more on today's breaking news. president trump, he is awake and he is tweeting about the demonstrations in iran. at least two people have been killed as demonstrators throughout the country have taken to the streets to protest rising food and gasoline prices. and iran ea's authoritarian

government. iran is blocking applications of it that people have been using to organize. and a few minutes ago, the president sent this tweet, big protests in iran. the people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism, looks like they will not take it any longer. the u.s. is watching very closely for human rights violations. now back to politics, president trump has been clear about what he thinks of the russian investigations, calling them a witchhunt, a hoax and a ruse. according to trump, there was no collusion between his campaign and russia, and to drive that point home, trump kept dropping that phrase using it 16 times in a 30-minute interview with "the new york times" on thursday. but the probes aren't going anywhere. we are now getting a better sense of one of the factors in the fbi launching its investigation. according to "the new york times," george papadopoulos told an australia diplomat in may of 2016 that russia had political

dirt on hillary clinton. two months later when leaked e-mails surfaced online, australia passed the tip about papadopoulos' claim onto their counterparts. that's the same month that the fbi opened its inquiry. it's never a good thing for this white house when george papadopoulos is back in the news as he is today. >> no, and especially in this regard, it seems like this report is highlighting something that may have gotten the whole scrutiny on trump started. so their association with papadopoulos has cost them, in a way, perhaps because he just spoke openly about what was going on. but it's making it more awkward for the white house because they're having to do pirouettes to explain what the relationship was there to make this go away as much as possible. you have seen various people coming out to say he's telling the truth on this when he's

having a conversation. we can't trust him, we can't trust him. but yeah, it's -- he's not the only person that has made a plea deal, plea arrangement. he does not seem to be the last person that the fbi and the mueller's probe is going to focus on. but he certainly seems to be a current figure that spoke with pride about the things that he was doing. and the question is, was that because he was trying to please the big boss or because the big boss actually trusted him to do these things? and that is the critical element here to sell out. >> and in "the new york times" report, which was extraordinary, it blows a hole in president trump's main talking point. one of his main talking points about this investigation, which is that it was all sort of manufactured on the basis of this now famous dossier that was funded in part by the democrats, in part by the other republicans who were running against him. he is saying, it had essentially a phony foundation. now we find out that the

foundation of the investigation, the thing that triggered it, comes from within trump's own campaign. and so it's going to be much harder for him to continue to argue that this is just, you know, all ginned up out of fake dossier. >> one of the things that came out in "the new york times" interview that trump had was, he obviously kept saying there was no collusion. but he also seemed to think and say over and over again as well that he felt like mueller could be fair to him. he said it about six or seven times. almost as many times as he talked about there being no collusion. this is what he said in part, i think that bob mueller will be fair and everybody knows that there was no collusion. i think i'll be treated fairly. timing-wise, i can't tell you, just don't know, but think i'll be treated fairly. there had been reports they were going to wrap this thing up, you know, before thanksgiving and then christmas, the timeline seems to be moving all over the place and just not clear at this

point, eliana. >> it was difficult to distinguish in that interview whether the president was projecting a hope or whether that was a sincere belief about his belief about mueller's intentions and his frame of mind. i don't think we had real substantive reports that the mueller investigation was actually going to be wrapping up in the coming months, certainly that's what the president's lawyers have been telling him. and that is clearly a management strategy at their part to keep his temper at an evil keel about this. i question his inquiry through 2018 whether he'll get wise to this and become increasingly frustrated with it. i do think it's clear, there are attempts by foreign governments to permeate presidential campaigns. that is standard. what is not standard, and i think "the times" established that campaigns are receptive to those overtures. and, you know, what remains unclear as karoun said, is

whether that receptiveness, which george papadopoulos was receptive to it, whether that went all the way to the top. and that's really the crucial question in this inquiry. we don't know the answer to it yet. >> the other possibility is that the president's comments about the fairness of the investigation were sort of a threat as in, this is a nice little investigation you've got going here, it would be a shame to see something happen to it. because in the same interview, he asserts that he has the power to start and stop in the investigation that he wants to. >> that's right. one of the things interesting too, you have republicans on a very much different page in terms of how they are characterizing mueller. here's what a few of them had to say. >> the congress have an obligation to expose this guy bias, to expose what i believe is a corrupt investigation, and i call on my republican colleagues to join me if calling for the firing of bob mueller. >> he's bad news. he's out for a scalp. he would love to get trump's

scalp. he would love to be the hero of the left to take out donald trump. he will do everything he can to do that. >> this is really spun far beyond what mr. mueller's authority should have been limited to. and we have to bring it back in. >> julie, what do you make of those comments? >> well, i think it is interesting, the president's comments in the interview the other day, i just don't take his words on being treated fairly or thinking he's being treated fairly by mueller, all that seriously, because it's reflective of his pattern of saying a bunch of different things. kind of muddying the waters by sort of projecting the sense through some of his allies that you just heard that the investigation's totally unfair, totally corrupt, out to get him, saying also at other times that he thinks he can be treated fairly. i mean, there's just so much talk. and it's going in so many different directions that up don't necessarily put a lot of stock in what he told "the times" the other day. but i think we'll just, the

first month or two of this year is going to be so interesting, because we're well beyond the timelines that his lawyers have been giving him for when this investigation is going to be wrapping up. and does he become mortgage at a timed and frustrated with it? and if so, what does he do about that? >> he at least suggested, karounn the interview, that the base doesn't seem to care. we talked to some of his voters who say, oh, this is nothing but a ruse. they don't care. one of them said that they don't care about at least it went trump's way. that russia may have interfered. on that score, he seems to not be losing with the base. >> right. the thing is, the russia thing, in general, is very real to worry about the russian meddling. it is very real to worry about cyber security. it feels there oretical, it fee like they are a lot closer to home. it's not a thing that would

shake-up the base at the level we're at right now. >> i think it becomes very explicit, very bigger if mueller finds other things, maybe, but right where we are, it wouldn't necessarily upset. >> we'll see what happens in 2018, if there's any interference again in these crucial elections. up next, trump calls them the opposition party. and for democrats, that might be just the messaging that they want for 2018. >> the republican brand, even in deep red alabama, is positively toxic. the american people and even some in the trump base are beginning to catch on. if they continue to run the government for the benefit of the few special, powerful, wealthy interests, there will be many more alabamas in 2018. many more. whoooo. finding the best hotel price is now a safe bet. because tripadvisor searches... ...over 200 booking sites - so you save up to 30% on the...

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democrats are energized going into 2018 saying the momentum is on their side heading into the midterms, but do they have the resources to take on the gop's majority in congress? the number crunching isn't exactly on the democrats' side when it comes to cash on hand. you have the dnc, the democratic national committee, has a mere $6.3 million, compares to the republican national committee's almost $40 million. and as for fund-raising totals, as of november, the dnc has $60.7. the rnc basically has twice

that, a little more than $121 million. and we got a tweet from the preside president, as we said he's up and tweeting, he's talking about the democrats and their chance in 2018. here's what he tweeted, why would smart voters want to put democrats in congress in 2018 election when their policies will totally kill the great wealth created during the months since the election. people are much better off now, not to mention isis, the va, judges, strong border, second amendment, tax cuts and more. julie, you had written about the democrats woes, in some ways, they have some momentum, a lot of the generic ballots seem to be on their side as well, but there is this gap in terms of how they're about to turn that enthusiasm into actual cash. >> yeah, it's really kind of an interesting miscorrelation between how much enthusiasm there seems to be out there based on polls for democrats winning the midterms.

and what the fund-raising is like so far. and just taking a look at the dnc versus the rnc, like you said, the rnc literally doubled what the dnc has been able to raise. and in my story, i talked about how there are two really big factors with that. one is that the small donors have not come home to the democratic party because of the 2016 election, because so many people feel or have this perception that the party kind of forced hillary clinton on them, didn't give bernie sanders a fair shot. party leaders, of course, say that never happened. that it's false. but there's that perception out there that has really stopped people from wanting to give money on the small donor side. and on the big donor side, you have people like tom stire out there spending $20 million of his own money on the impeachment project, instead of supporting the party. so it's really a tough year for the democratic party to try to rebrand itself and market itself

in a way that is attractive to small donors and big donors alike. >> and that is the big topic, right? what should the messaging be? we had the party of this july, chuck schumer, the whole idea they were going to be the party of the little guy. here's what he was saying back in july about where the party should be. >> president trump campaigned on a populist platform, talking to working people. that's why he won. but as soon as he got into office, he abandoned them. we democrats are going to fill that vacuum. democrats will show the country we are the party on the side of working people. >> how is that going, karoun, showing folks they are on the side of working people? >> well, the democrats have not articulated their rationale for being put back into power, other than they would block trump, that they would stop trump.

so, we will just have to see if we see a real sort of set of, here is what we would get accomplished. because the fact is, it is hard to make that argument when the other party is going to be controlling the white house. when you have actors like tom stire out there trying to get everyone on the record with impeachment, that is going tobe the big distraction for trying to say, here are the nuts and bolts of our agenda. >> and howard dean, he is the primal screen who won and had a 50-state strategy for the dnc. here's what he had to say in terms of what the democrats should do in 2018. >> in the off-year elections for congress, your message is, i'm not the president. and that is all you need. then 2018, not being donald trump is enough. >> that didn't work so well in 2016. >> it didn't. he is talking about the midterm elections. and that worked for republicans in the midterm elections when they crushed democrats. >> the party of no.

>> exactly. i'm not obama. and they swept into office in 2014 and in 2010. huge republican majorities came into office. enormous anti-obama energy. and, you know, you noted the huge republican fund-raising advantage in the beginning of this segment. i think trump really showed that money is not everything. energy, enthusiasm, all of that matters as well. so i think democrats, they may be able to succeed simply on an anti-trump platform and those numbers may not matter as much as people think they do. >> karoun, 2018 in some ways is a dry run for 2020. and you imagine that you'll see a lot of jockeying from a lot of folks on the hill. people like kirsten gillibrand, cam louisia camila harris, cory booker.

>> they will probably be going out on the campaign for the mid terms and doing stumping where they feel like they have an effect that is credible, be credited for that, and have a platform to where they can be heard. there's a lot of attention to be paid for the certain key race where is the audience is far more sympathetic than the audience in iowa the following year. so it's a dry run to see how they perform. how much they can pull certain voters along, how much of a message is actually good for anybody else's district or state than their own, right? and so that is an important test for these guys. >> that will be really interesting to see where these folks are wanted, if you are camela harris, are you wanted in virginia? >> the key places to watch are the 23 house districts where you have a republican member of congress sitting in a district that was won by hillary clinton. and as people like nancy pelosi have warned, there's a real danger in putting forward a democratic candidate who goes too far to the left in those

districts. >> that will be fascinating to watch. next, our reports open their notebooks to political reviews ahead, including the record number of women running for governors offices around the country.

we asked our reporters to share a tidbit from their notebooks to get the latest from the political works right now. elana, we'll start with you. >> we saw john kelly storm into

the white house over the summer and start getting rid of some of president trump's aides. we'll see some of that in the new year as well. there's been a lot of focus on some high-profile departures in the white house. a year into the trump administration, i think we'll see, not only departures, but also some forcible removals. >> wow, more shake-ups to come. karoun? >> running for executive office has always been a different challenge for female candidates. and this year, we are seeing that there are 79 women in the mix running for governor. it's going to test this proposition that social scientists have seen where voters are more comfortable with women in a legislative setting. but they are, you know, it's pushing against the barriers to see women running, this many of them, to be the decider. >> a lot of talk about whether or not this is really going to be the year of the woman, like 1992 was. we'll see what happens in the gubernatorial level. julie? >> you know, i'm really watching to see how republicans and

president trump market the tax law. just signed into law right before the end of the year, we'll see if the president travels to different factories and states to sell this law, because it really remains deeply unpopular. you're already hearing about some groups that did a lot of advertising during the tax debate, say that they're going to continue to, you know, put up advertisements and try to get that popularity up. so we'll see if democrats come back with their own set of advertising to highlight some of the negative aspects of the new law. >> all the talk on that, you feel like it's just getting started. karoun. >> well, we have been talking a lot about the investigations and what will yield between the investigations looking into trump and russia. but i'm also going to be watching the investigations of hillary clinton hick. if that feels like looking backwards then a forwards, that's fine. but they are looking into the clinton investigation, how the fbi and doj handled. that looking into questions surrounding the dossier.

and those things are heating up. we saw the groundwork laid at the end of the year with the house oversight committee bringing in the fbi director. it seems like the gop winds down the investigation into trump, they are pushing to ramp up the ones on hillary clinton. the president is intimately behind, so how much steam do they pick up and what role does that play going forward, especially as you see the potential shift happen and the investigations generally play a role in the politics in the new year. >> clinton is always a fascinating topic for republicans. that's it for "inside politics." we want to wish you a very happy new year from the "inside politics" team here. thank you for sharing you sunday with us. stay right where you are, dana bash is talking trump's first year in 2018 with the former communications director anthony scaramucci next on "state of the union."

i could smell the smoke, i could see the flames. it was real like a nightmare. to think that somebody not only burned the mosque, but was trying to burn everything that you believed in. that no, you're not part of the american fabric. i kept thinking, what is going on here? you know, we live here, our kids grew up here, are we wanted? are we welcome? is this good-bye, eviction notice? ♪ >> when i became aware that it was an act of arson, ahate crime, i chose to offer the keys of the synagogue to the muslim

community. that was done without any religion or politics. >> there are 120 churches in north texas. and there's one mosque and one synagogue. it is easy to fall into your own world and bubble. but i never would have expected the people to respond like this. hundreds of people came out of the woodwork to show up for the prayer services. >> we had christians, jews, blacks, whites, gays, straights, standing together. >> i remember praying together with hundreds of community members in front of us. the charred mosque was right behind us. and we almost turned our back to the past to the hate. the outpouring of support was a powerful message of healing. this came from family in oregon. you are our brothers and sisters. never forget that there is more love than you can see.

trump's first year. we look back at key moments from the president's historic year in office. >> we have more legislative victories than any other president. >> and what year two might bring for his presidency. >> he's going to surprise people. >> president trump's former communications director anthony scaramucci will be here. plus, the investigation continues as president trump continues to attack the fbi and dismiss the russia probe as a