now to a completely uncertain what's going to happen here in the senate. the government of course could close in 24 hours. don't forget, you can watch the show anytime on cnn go. anderson picks up our coverage now. this is cnn breaking news. >> good evening, thanks for joining us. we're picking up on the breaking news, the house voting minutes ago to pass a short-term funding bill. it comes after no shortage of gop infighting and confusion over what the president really wants. democrats say they have the votes to block it in the senate, and if they do or if republicans can't agree among themselves and a shutdown happens, that would make history, the first time ever when the party controls the white house. we continue our coverage from the capitol. what do we fknow about how this vote came together? >> the president seemed to imply

he was opposed to a key element of this bill. it continued with fierce lobbies behind the scenes by republicans. with recognition they were going to get no help from democrats. there were conservatives that had real problems with the scale and scope of what this government funding bill would actually do. but by the middle of the day i was told by top leadership aides that speaker ryan and his team felt like they were in a good place. the house freedom caucus, the conservatives started to fall into line, and shortly before the vote that caucus confirmed, they were in majority in support of that proposal. clearing the way for its passage. it is a big victory for speaker ryan and republicans, getting something done on their own without democratic help. but in terms of what happens next, still an open question. >> it goes on to the senate, what's the process there? >> if you have money on not having a government shutdown your bet's not looking good. mitch mcconnell needs 60 votes to move things forward.

because of attendance issues, he has 50 republicans. he will not be able to secure the votes of at least ten democrats. he's losing some of his open members on this funding bill as well. where does that leave things? that is an open question. you ask democrats, they want a vote on an immigration bil th want to attach some kind of daca resolution to a government funding bill or at least reach some agreement on that front. the president has been very clear. that is not coming now or anytime in the near future. so where do they currently stand? working on the blame game. they are digging in. both sides, it's not clear when this is going to end. things will start moving forward tonight, but again, they'll move forward to a vote that at this point everybody knows is going to fail. we are now approaching 24 hours until the government shuts down. as of now, there's no real solution or game plan for what happens next, anderson. >> let's go next to the white house and jim acosta. what's the white house saying at this point?

>> what they're saying, they're watching this unfold. but in the meantime, this administration has to get ready for the event of a potential government shutdown. so i talked to a senior administration official this evening who said in the last couple days white house officials have been talking to the various agencies to basically send the message that this should be minimally, a minimal disruption for the general public is how this senior administration official put it. and essentially, one of the things they're talking about is getting the message to say the national park service, which is always a symbol in these shutdowns when yosemite and other parks close, that this shutdown under the trump administration, that some national parks and monuments and memorials that rely on minimal staffing, that those facilities should remain open, and this administration official cited the world war ii memorial on the national mall as an example. if this goes late friday night, one thing that they've been

studying over here anderson is whether or not the president could send out a tweet late friday night, early saturday morning if this gets passed in the senate though basically say listen, i agree with this continuing resolution to keep the government open, and that that tweet essentially sends a signal that the u.s. government is going to remain open. it's sort of unchartered waters to some extent in that the president feels that a tweet or the president's team is looking at the possibility that a tweet could send a signal to the world that the federal government is not shutting down. >> the white house, this president has received some criticism from republicans, from mitch mcconnell and others about essentially not being clear enough on what they actually want. >> that was going on earlier today. the president sent out that tweet saying that the children's health insurance program, if that's extended that should be part of a longer budget deal, not a short-term budget deal, which was in conflict with what the house republicans were talking b

talking about. there's rumbling inside the republican party right now, there's a feeling over on the house side that the president did not put in as many phone calls as he should have, that he should have been working the phones a lot harder as this was getting down to the wire, and there's a feeling insides white house, i talked to a source in the white house and the house freedom caucus who said earlier this evening that there is a feeling that house speaker paul ryan was struggling to put together the votes needed to get this continuing resolution passed. now obviously it's passing, so that criticism doesn't pass any muster, but there's fwrumabling inside the party as to how this is going on, but anderson, they can only blame them selves. they're in charge of the white house, they're in charge of the congress. if they have a shutdown, it's a republican shutdown. >> to vedo they have any bills e senate? >> no. and that is whether the president goes ahead with his

plans to leave for mara lago. he is expected to celebrate the one-year anniversary of being sworn into office. that is to take place at mar-a-lago. they've been putting out e-mails inviting people to participate in this event and fund raise off of thi event. so the object will be there, the image will be there potentially. the president of the united states, as the government is shutting down, getting on a plane to go down to mara lago and potentially party with donors and so on as this government is shutting down. the white house is not saying at this point whether those plans will change, but it's interesting to note when the senior official was saying that the president could send out a tweet sending his support for a continuing resolution, that sounds like a contingency plan that would allow the president to go down to mara lago and allow the government to shut down while the negotiations continue over the weekend. i should point out, this official was stressing and trying to make the case that if the government shuts down over

the weekend that is not a huge issue in their feeling, in their view, because many federal workers are off over the weekend. the question is how long it lasts and what islakind of damas done to this white house image and the gop's image moving forward. >> now to a member of the conservative, gop freedom caucus, tom gehrig. you voted for the continuing resolution. what got you to yes? >> well, i mean, look, we've been very vocal on the children's health insurance program, known as chip. democrats just voted not to reauthorize children's health insurance through 2023, when jim, whom i hold in high regard said if we have a government shutdown it will be the republicans' fault. we need 60 votes to get this through the senate, and i have 186 democrats voting to shut the

government down. and six are republicans. 200 some republicans voted to keep it open and fund the children's health insurance program through 2023. i find myself living in strange world here. >> to you worry the optics of people who say you to have the white house, you do have congress, and yet you're not all on the same page. >> oh, i think the american people don't want us to all be on the same page. would you want to live in a world where every person with a particular letter by their name would vote the same way? i expect dissent, but i don't understand why leader pelosi has led and whipped her party to vote against children's health insurance so many times. and governor mcauliffe, a guy i consider a friend chastised the delegation, i'm for a no vote for it. leader pelosi, has she voted for

it yet? at some point people are going to start looking at how people actually vote. this is going to be a schumer shutdown if it's a shutdown, beeatch what happens in e sena. if they vote to shut the senate down, it will be a vast majority. >> i wonder if you can talk about what he said, did it have an impact on your freedom caucus members? >> i wasn't privy to that conversation. >> senator graham said they need a leader in the president. mcconnell says he doesn't know what the president wants. do you believe that's a fair criticism. >> that the president has not been clare enouear enough in ex exactly what he wants. >> i'm not going to attack people in positions of leadership for asking for clarts fr clarity from the white house. i hate governing by cr. it just is not the way we're supposed to do business. for the record, the house has

passed 12 separate budget gills for t -- bills for the first time in 14 years. the house moves slowly but compared to the senate, you know, i think leader mcconnell has a rate ight to speak to the president and say this is what i need from you. and i'm not going to get into a he said-she said pedantics. one of the things is the tone, and if i have anything to do with it, it's going to be pointing out this vote count, which is the vast majority of democrats led by former speaker pelosi voted to shut down the government and not fund children's health insurance, and yet again, i, who am labelled a staunch conservative and vote in favor of this program. >> do you think it passes in the senate? or do you think there will be a shutdown? >> i'm hopeful that it passes. it's interesting, i think

america needs to do a better job understanding the rules of the senate. if in fact you're going to get to the point where you need 60 votes, there's a filibuster process that could be invoked. i would say to majority leader mcconnell that we'd like to see him make this process playfully out. let's see how committed chuck schumer is to shutting down the government and, you know, i mean, not throw up our hands and say that's too hard. so i'm not goi to conjecture or speculate on what they'll do in the senate ex-secretary ceptt i'm proud that we voted not to shut the government down and that we extend the children's health insurance program. >> thank you. >> thank you for the opportunity. >> david gregory and gloria borger, we're watching this play

out in real time. which party do you think has the most at stake tonight. clearly you just heard from congressman gehrig. >> and trying to make the case that democrats are against extending children's health insurance which i don't think is the issue here. i think it's gotten so convoluted that the public's going to have a hard time figuring out who to blame, and they should probably blame both sides in this, but as you pointed out at the top of the show, this is a republican-controlled washington, period. white house, house, senate. and, you know, i think in the end that the people in charge are the people who generally get the blame. and i think where, this is no way to run a government. don't forget, the bill that they voted on in the house tonight only extends through february 16. so they're kicking the can down the road. and this is what democrats are

saying they don't want to do anymore. they don't want to just kick the can down the road. they want to come up with solutions, particularly on the issue of d.r.e.a.m.ers, which was not included at all in the house bill. >> is it clear whether president trump understands? at least this morning when his tweets again caused consternation within his party, what was in it and what wasn't in it? >> it's not clear to me that he cares necessarily. because he's not standing by the party. he's someone who campaigned on the promise of draining the swamp and changing the way washington worked. he also has demonstrated that he would step back and separate himself from establishment republicans who seem to govern in a way that disappoints a lot of his voters. well the problem now is that the republican leader as you pointed out says he's not sure what the president wantis with regard to

immigration. a prominent supporter in lindsey graham saying that it's time for the president just to be a leader. so i'm sure he understands what the ramifications are, but he is still all over the place, which is no way to get to what you need, which is a short-term fix or pave the way to get something big. and if it's a chaos theory negotiation, we haven't seen a lot of that of about. maybe with president trump it will be different. >> david, gloria, stay tuned for just a minute. we've got to take a quick break. also tonight, the president promising over and over to be the best deal maker. and ahead, more breaking news on a different subject. new reporting on citizen trump, the porn star and candidate trump's alleged payoff to her. that and michael cohen's reported role.

if you can train oxford to sit... sit you can train yourself to cook with less oil. introducing new pam spray pump made with extra virgin olive oil. now you can pump instead of pour, plus get the superior non-stick you love. new pam spray pump. when you have a cold, stuff happens. ♪ { sneezing ] shut down cold symptoms fast [ coughing ] with maximum strength alka seltzer plus liquid gels. anna, do you yes! those plans?

i just wanted to show you something i've been wor... ♪ james r. and associates. anna speaking... ♪ james r. and associates. anna. ♪ [phone ringing] baker architects. this is anna baker. this is what our version of financial planning looks like. tomorrow is important, but you're ready to bet on yourself today. spend your life living. find an advisor at northwesternmutual.com.

mikboth served in the navy.s,

i do outrank my husband, not just being in the military, but at home. she thinks she's the boss. she only had me by one grade. we bought our first home together in 2010. his family had used another insurance product but i was like well i've had usaa for a while, why don't we call and check the rates? it was an instant savings and i should've changed a long time ago. there's no point in looking elsewhere really. we're the tenneys and we're usaa members for life. usaa. get your insurance quote today. we're just getting more information. we've learned that in a matter of minutes the senate may take up legislation to avoid a shutdown. this was not expected tonight now we're learning otherwise, the initial voting to proceed may happen any moment. let's go back to phil mattingly, what's going on? >> the senate is going to, once they get the house bill, they're going to take it up on the floor, what they will first do is have a vote on the motion to proceed. that is a simple majority

threshold, so they need 51 votes to actually move that forward. as of this moment, both republicans and democrats believe the votes are there to to that. that is not the vote that everybody needs to keep an eye on. the vote that everybody needs to keep an eye on is the next vote, anderson, that would be the vote that has the threshold of 60 votes where democrats plan to hold off on giving majority leader mitch mcconnell the votes to actually move forward on the bill. when that lap happens is still for debate. is there any movement, is there any idea how this is all going to play out not just tonight but over the next couple days? and the answer is no. there is no necessary definite strategy in terms of how this is going to work on both sides other than repnsublicare dug in. democrats are dug in. and the one thing we know for certain is senate majority leader mitch mcconnell does not have the 60 votes at this moment to move forward on that

house-passed bill. and until he does, the government is still on that path, anderson to shut down tomorrow night. >> we'll continue checking with you as the story continues to break in this hour. let's go back to gloria borger and david gregory. when you hear republicans say this is all going to be blamed on the democrats, the democrats fault, they're against helping kids. what is the democratic argument? is it just if it shuts down the republicans will get the blame? >> if this is so important to you republicans, why didn't you take it up earlier this year when you could have. children's health insurance is something you can bring up on the floor anytime and renew it. and they've been screaming about it, the democrats have been screaming about it for quite some time. i was just speaking with a

senior democratic aide, we have not talked to republicans since donald trump became president. we really don't deal with each other. so they're kind of flying by each other here. the democrats are incensed about what the president said, his vulgar remarks on immigration. that added heat to the fire here. they're concerned about d.r.e.a.m.ers, they believe this something that hit have been done a while ago. and the republicans are trying to bribe democrats saying we're going to pass this children's health insurance. i don't know how they get out of their to this to be honest. >> i think the big part of the democratic strategy is resistance. they want to fight on the terrain of the president's a bad guy, he's unfit, this is their argument, and that he is racist as oyou've heard, obviously, an his views on immigration are un-american. they want to make this a proxy

fight over his views on immigration. they don't want to take him on jobbing or h jobs or how the market is doing. and the base, leading up to the election year, to 2020, where were you, did you stand up to trump and by proxy the republicans. i think this is what's driving republicans and it may be the best moment of leverage. think might be able to get the bigger deal that a mercurial president may be able to deal with. >> i want to show a little benefit all the times he's talked about being a deal maker. >> we need somebody with great flerg, wi energy, with great passion, with great deal-making skills. >> i am going to make great deals for our country. what i do is deals, i do deals.

i can extract a good deal for the united states, for the people. i make deals. i negotiate. everybody wants me to negotiate. that's what i'm known as, as a negotiate. i'm so anxious to negotiate. nobody can outnegotiate these deals. i will make lots of great deals for the american people. i am a deal maker, and that's what the country needs, a deal maker. we don't make great deals anymore. i'm a closer. we're going to start winning so much. we're going to win and win and win. >> we've seen in the last week and a half, the president not seeming to know what he actually does believe in. agreeing wh dianne feinstein and then with mccarthy and going back to democrat policy. >> i think what you saw was that the president doesn't have any set of beliefs. his belief is that he wants to win.

and he wants to be regarded as the person who brought the deal over the finish line. but lindsey graham told him that you have to be involved. mitch mcconnell came out and said look, if we know where the president stands on immigration, may maybe we can get something done here. and you saw him this morning upend this entire debate by tweeting about a clean cr and children's health shouldn't be a part of it, because he didn't understand that it was a six-year renewal. so though is notis is not a fwo. this is somebody who's not paying attention to the details, and you saw his own chief of staff talk about that yesterday as well, that the president has evolved. i think the president may be learning, but then he shoots his mouth off, and we don't know what he brieelieves. >> thank you. who are shaping up to be the winners and losers in all the

negotiationing negotiations of this? we're voya! we stay with you to and through retirement. i get that voya is with me through retirement, i'm just surprised it means in my kitchen. so that means no breakfast? voya. helping you to and through retirement. with expedia, you can book a flight, then add a hotel, and save. ♪ everything you need to go. expedia with its historical ance records...test ...you could learn you're from ireland... ...donegal, ireland... ...and your ancestor was a fisherman. with blue eyes. just like you. begin your journey at ancestry.com

we're now waiting for the senate to take its first vote on a spending bill to cut off a shutdown tomorrow night. republicans apparently do not have the support they need. if a vote happens now, it would fail. some republicans -- we'll see what the president's own party has to say. >> i'm looking for something that the president supports, and he's not yet indicated what measure he's willing to sign. as soon as we figure out what he is for, then i would be

convinced that we were not just spinning our wheels goingo this issue on the floor but also dealing with a bill that has a chance to become law. >> you can't blame president trump for a broken congressional system, but we need a better partner at the white house. >> they will be blaming it on democrats. two cnn political commentators who know about what's at stake, what could hold things up. former white house communications director for president obama, jen psaki and rick santorum. >> they're trying to get to the bill. they'll have to move to proceed, which usually the republicans, whether you're for or against what the house passed, republicans will line up and support the leader's ability to bring up what have bill he wants, that should not be a big deal. and then it's just a matter of

whether they can twist enough arms and get enough republicans. the whole idea is for republicans to show solidarity and get as many people, if they get to 50 or 51 would be great. if they can get to a number, then they can point the finger pretty clearly at the democrats and say look, we put up all the votes we could to make this thing work and the other side isn't helping us. but if they come up short, five, six, seven, ten republicans vote no, it's a little harder to make the case that they're responsibly governing. >> jen, were you part of the obama administration during the shutdown in 2013. does a shutdown really work out well for anybody? i'm guessing both sides are hoping the other side gets the blame. >> shutdowns are never great politics, but this would be the fourth shutdown in the last 25 years. republicans have been blamed, if you look at polling, every single time, because they controlled chambers of congress. so there's no reason to believe that would be different. in this particular sen aereo

tonight, there are four republican senators who have said they wouldn't support this. so you're looking at a scenario where mcconnell would have to get 13 democrats on board to get to the 60, which is a very hard hurdle, but the democrats i've spoken to don't want a shutdown. it's not great politics. what they want is to use this leverage to get a larger swath to the negotiating table, to address daca, make this a longer-term spending bill. that's what they really want to get to. >> but why go for everything at once. couldn't democrats just say look, we'll get the child, you know, the c.h.i.p. program, and we'll do daca next. is it all about leverage? >> that, part of it's leverage, which they don't have frequently, because democrats don't control anything in washington, but they feel they were promised a deal on daca in december. that has not been delivered on. this is not just a political moral issue.ny democrats, it's a we're talking about 700,000

people whose lives are ng haiha in the balance. and they don't trust that if the republicans say we'll address that in february it will actually happen. now is the time they want to get a deal on this. >> the deal that they put forward wasn't just about daca, but 10 million people folks that could stay in the country. if the concern was about daca, they should have brought a compromised bill to the president that just dealt with daca. they were overreaching, and they're getting their hand slapped as a result. you bring up a good point. every democrat voting no is voting against a bill they support. there's nothing in the bill that democrats yoems. -- oppose. so you say why don't you take what everybody agrees with and take another bite of the apple. nobody's going to negotiate an immigration bill in the next 24 hours.

it's way too complicated to do that. they're going to need another vote, republicans are going to have to make another compromise to get democrat votes to pass it. now they don't have children's health insurance if this passes. i don't really see the angle. and candidly, to just contradict jen an a little bit, the reason republicans got blamed for the last shutdowns was because republicans were demanding something other than a clean bill. the democratic presidents wanted or republican presidents in some cases wanted a clean bill, and the congress said no, we want to put this, there's things in here we don't want, or we want to put in there. and that's why they lost. the testimonies ademocrats are doing that, and that puts them in a real precarious situation. >> you heard what len lindsey graham said, do they need a better partner in the white house?

>> i think he's right, and mitch mcconnell's right. the president needs to show more leadership of what he wants. as good as the optics were on that meeting, he really did not provide now clari provided no clarity on what he would sign. he needs to be very clear about what he will and what he won't accept. things the president is asking for are things democrats bynd>>t see just releasing the full testimony of the co-founder of fusion gps. the opposition research firm behind the so-called trump dossier. also new reporting tonight following the money, allegedly from the presidential candidate, donald trump, to the porn star, what the wall street journal is now reporting when 360 continues. ed always discreet. i didn't think protection this thin could work. but the super absorbent core turns liquid to gel. snap! so it's out of sight... ...and out of mind. always discreet. for bladder leaks.

and i heard that my cousin's so, wife's sister's husband was a lawyer, so i called him. but he never called me back! if your cousin's wife's sister's husband isn't a lawyer, call legalzoom and we'll connect you with an attorney. legalzoom. where life meets legal. make the most of every hour. here comes a new year. of every single day. with the power of tempur-pedic sleep. choose the mattress brand ranked highest in customer satisfaction by j.d. power. tempur-pedic sleep is power.

there's more breaking news tonight, which on any other news tay mig day might be a lead. the house intelligence committee has released the testimony of glen simpson. and adam schiff says it reveals what he says are serious

allegation about the trump organization, russian nationals and the very thing steve bannon warned about, which is mondaey laundering. what have you been learning? >> congressman schiff drawing particular attention to this mention again of money laundering. trump organization, an allegation i should make clear, trump organization, money laundering for russian nationals and schiff making the point, isn't this interesting because bannon made a similar reference in michael wolff's book. to be clear, in this testimony there was no evidence, hard evidence presented by glen simpson, in fact, he was pressed by republicans saying you are making this allegation, what can you show us to prove that this is true. so he granted that. no hard evidence he could present there, but schiff making the additional point then, why won't our republican colleagues let us pursue this, investigate if there was anything there.

that's frustration. i will say, if that's not happening in the house intelligence committee, we do have a fair amount of confidence that is at least a line of inquiry for robert mueller's investigation. >> the testimony also focussed on the dossier. what did he say about that? >> look back at the dossier. it was a series of memos that allege that members of the trump organization, the campaign, were in touch with russian nationals alleged in what was conspiracy, to exchange damaging information on hillary clinton and help turn the campaign. and the point simpson made was okay, those were early intelligence leads, but if you look at what has been revealed since then, the trump tower meeting in june 2016. other surreptitious contacts, between george papadopoulos and others, that some of what was alleged in the dossier has stood up, has come out in public since

then. and that's a point, just to counter what you've heard often from the president, that ts is a phony dossier, et cetera. one of the central allegation of the dossier, there has been some evidence of that revealed since the dossier was first revealed. >> jim sciutto, appreciate it. joaquin castro sits on the house intelligence committee and joins us now. these allegation that the trump organization may have been involved with money laundering with russian nationals, can you explain what glen simpson said about that? >> sure, you can see from the transcript that he had this concern basically on a year's worth of research and not just cursory stuff but going into court filings and corporate filings. he had this concern about the possibility of money laundering, this idea that you might have, for example, russians who have acquired money illegally and they're needing to cleanse that money, and they're investing it

in trump properties, but, as jim mentioned, and as you see notice transcript, he said at the end of the day that he couldn't provide hard evidence of that. he only saw signs of that, and the reason he couldn't provide hard evidence is because fusion gps is not a governmental entity that can subpoena different entities for information. and the house intelligence committee i think is unlikely to follow up on a lot of those leads unrtunaty, part of that because of the resoues committed to the committee, the politics of it, but i do think it's something that bob mueller should and wld look into. >> it's not something your committee would actually look into. >> i hope that we will. but unfortunately, it's something that i would not be surprised if the committee does not >> i want to ask you about hope hicks' interview with your committee getting delayed. was it out of concern about the white house and what she might be able to say, whether the white house would be trying to invoke executive privilege?

>> that's impossible for me or other members of the committee to know. but we definitely want to speak with ms. hicks. she's somebody that we want to interview. there's still many people that we think need to be interviewed in order to fill out the pieces of this puzzle. you know, so i'm sure that we'll have a chance to talk to her at some point in the near future. >> john kelly said last night that the white house never told steve bannon to invoke executive privilege. bannon's own attorney said he was told by white house lawyers that he was not allowed to speak about the transition time or the time in the white house. so is general kelly trying to basically play semantics here, saying we didn't tell bannon, but it sounds from bannon's attorney who reportedly was even calling the white house during the testimony during breaks, it seems like the white house at least talked to bannon's attorney. >> it could be one of a few thgs. first, it could be, possibly, at they didn't give the order for him that they were going to exert executive privilege.

and there was a misrepresentation, although i got to imagine that's very unlikely, with the professional representation that he had. that would be a serious violation by an attorney representing mr. bannon to make that claim. so i think it's more likely, what often happens at the white house, which is the left and the right hand don't communicate. and you get different answers on any controversial issue, depending on who you're talking to at the white house. >> congressman castro, appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. >> coming up, hope hicks was supposed to testify before the house intelligence committee tomorrow. she won't. we'll have more of an explanation ahead. and how an alleged cash payment for then candidate trump to an adult film star dacame to be. ...and 24-hour room service a place where seniors get the care they need in the comfort of home. home instead senior care.

to treat her frequent before diheartburn...xium 24hr lucy could only imagine enjoying a slice of pizza. now, it's as easy as pie. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? kayak compares hundreds of travel and airline sites so you can be confident you're getting the right flight at the best price. cheers! kayak. search one and done. ethat's the height ofs mount everest. because each day she chooses to take the stairs. at work, at home... even on the escalator. that can be hard on her lower body, so now she does it with dr. scholl's orthotics. clinically proven to relieve and prevent

foot, knee or lower back pain, by reducing the shock and stress that travel up her body with every step she takes. so keep on climbing, sarah. you're killing it. dr. scholl's. born to move.

a key white house aide was supposed to testify tomorrow before the house intelligence commite, looking to all things russia in the 2016 election, that, as we said, hope hicks will now not be appearing. her testimony is being postponed among a swirl of confusing signals from the white house about whether she will or will not invoke executive privilege.

there's that, and glen simpson's money laundering allegation that congressman schiff is talking about. so can theseongressional committees force these witnesses to talk short of holding them in contempt of ss,hichcongre is almost unheard of? >> they can invite them to be interviewed. and they can also subpoena them if they want, although, it seems like the house intelligence committee, which is republican-led is mostly not interested in subpoenaing witnesses, although i guess they did issue a subpoena for bannon that didn't sort of work out, because he wasn't responsive. i guess the bigger point that we've seen day to day is this house intelligence investigation just seems disorganized. they are inviting witnesses. witnesses come. they don't know whether or not they're going to invoke executive privilege or not. they don't know whether the witness is going to appear. so it just strikes me as t

disorganized. they're not communicating effectively with the white house's office and conflicting with the special counsel's offense. >> the report is that a decision was made to curtail the decision. >> you have to exert executive privilege to prevent the witness from answering questions. i don't think that chief of staff was actually in the loop. i think bannon was in touch with mcgann. they were operating under the president's directives to not answer questions. the breadth of the privilege they are asserting to say they're asserting privilege for the transition period. i can't find any constitutional basis for that. it seems the executive privilege

starts when you're the executive. you ha you have one executive at a time. they are right to postpone hope hicks testimony what the nature of the privilege they will make. then they have to subpoena these people. as we know in respect to hope hicks she's testified before mueller. that's the big deal, not congress. >> the possibility of president trump being interviewed by mueller, they asked if it could be a perjury trap it could be foolish n to consider the possibility. isn't it only a perjury trap if you have something to hide? >> it's a perjury trap if he's worried about what the witness is going to say. any person who goes in front of an interview or in front of

grand jury, it's not necessarily a perjury trap. perhaps there's concern about the way the president the would answer questions. >> the white house seems concerned about who the president sits in front of to do interviews on television. you can only imagine a lawyer's concern about him sitting in front of mueller or his team. >> any fairness, why white house counsel or advisor to the president will be concerned about the president sitting in this formal sitting but a lawyer for this particular president would be concerned giving his lack of truth telling. >> definitionally, a perjury trap is a process by which prosecutor is bringing a witness into the grand jury purposely to trick them into saying something that's perjuriouperjurious.

if you bring a witness in good faith and ask them questions about ongoing investigation, that's not a perjury trap. that's just perjury. >> good distinctio it bould over in early january that's also after predicted over by thanksgiving or the end of 2017 at the latest. sbts he doing his client, the president disservice by publicly or giving to him directly these dates which don't seem to be accurate? >> i can tell you as lawyer when you have a difficult client sometimes you do things that are against your best judgment but is what the client wants you to do. i have no idea whether he's following the direction of his client that gets to control the messaging or tie is just very optimistic that in four to six weeks some aspect of this investigation may wrap up.

there's multiple work streams that mueller has. the money laundering, collusion, obstruction of justice. maybe there's a possibility that one aspect of this thing gets in four to six weeks more or less shutdown. i don't think it's realistic that all of them will. >> thanks very much. appreciate it. some new reporting for the wall street journal on the alleged cash payment to a porn store by the personal lawyer for president trump. you may recall the journal reported michael cohen arranged $130,000 payment to a woman who goes by the name of stormy d danie daniels. that payment was to prevent publication of an alleged air fa -- affair between her and president trump. mr. cohen arranged the money through a private company he set up in delaware called special consultants back in october 2016. the president denied any affair

and cohen told the journals the reporters were wasting my time. when asked about the delaware company. an e-mail he didn't address the $130,000 payment. we have more ahead including resignation that just happened in the trump administration. there was a string of racist comments. we'll be right back. turn up your swagger game with one a day men's. ♪ get ready for the wild life a complete multivitamin with key nutrients, plus b vitamins for heart health. your one a day is showing. pssst. what? i switched to geico and got more. more savings on car insurance? a-ha. and an award-winning mobile app.

that is more. oh, there's more. mobile id cards, emergency roadside service... more technology. i can even add a new driver... ...right from her phone! geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. ♪ with expedia, you can book a flight, then add a hotel, and save. everything you need to go. expedia. ♪ ♪ i can do more to lower my a1c. because my body can still make its own insulin. and i take trulicity once a week to activate my body to release it, like it's supposed to.

trulicity is not insulin. it comes in a once-weekly, truly easy-to-use pen. the pen where you don't have to see or handle a needle. and it works 24/7. trulicity is a once-weekly injectable medicine to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. it should not be the first medicine to treat diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not take trulicity if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, if you have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you're allergic to trulicity. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or symptoms like itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases your risk for low blood sugar. common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, decreased appetite, and indigestion.

some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. to help lower my a1c i choose trulicity to activate my within. ask your doctor if once-weekly trulicity is right for you. ♪ ♪

another resignation from the trump administration. it's the man who is the chief of external affairs. it connects vol teers and service opportunities in some of the nation's poorest areas. an investigation found the appointee has been a guest on this and other news networks had a pattern of making racist, sexist, anti-muslim on radio broadcasts stretching back years. he said black americans had lax morals and declarede hated gay people. apparently talking about all gay people, every one of them.

that does it for us. time to hand it over to chris cuomo. thank you, my friend. 27 hours until the government shutsdown. it's now the senate's turn to act. we're going to test the potential outcomes and implications in realtime with players from both sides. what do you say? let's get after it. i'm chris cuomo. welcome to primetime. big night. lots of breaking news. headlines all over the place that the house has taken us one step closer to passing a short term budget deal. true but the only thing that matters is what happens next perhaps on our watch. brothers and sisters it's all about the senate. currently we believe 48 republicans out of 51 are on board. the bill could need 60 votes to pass. that means the democrats aren