welcome to "inside politics." i'm manu raju. john king is off. migrant children in custody after another child has died. plus, the white house said the fed chair's job is 100% safe while markets continue to struggle. in 2020, presidential announcements are just around the corner. >> during the holidays, i'm going to sit back and be with

family, friends and advisers and decide whether to run for reelection which has been my sole focus or now begin to think about running for president. >> we begin with more market instability, an up and down day on the dow. new assurances that the fed chair's job is safe. on the white house lawn this morning, this guarantee from the white house's top economic adviser. >> the fed chairman's job safe? >> 100%, yes. >> not in jeopardy? >> absolutely, that's correct, yes. >> the president blames the fed for the worst stock since 1931 and today, the white house blamed the market's no good very bad december on the slowdown but the u.s. metrics, or the ones that matter and they remain solid. >> all the anecdotal information we're getting is the fundamentals remain extremely sound. christmas sales are through the roof. gdp in the fourth quarter is

looking like it's going to be very close to, if not above 3 again and so i think that the momentum that we saw this year is carried forward to next year. >> cnn's alison kosik in new york. everything is fine. do the markets believe him? >> i wouldn't say everything is fine. i think he's right about the u.s. economy. the u.s. economy is strong. it looks like even president trump's 3% growth target gdp for 2018 may actually happen. the consumer remains strong. all of the economic data coming out of the u.s. really doesn't point to any looming recession. and everything is fine, i would beg to differ with the sentiment i'm feeling here on wall street. i mean, yes, we are seeing a triple digit rally on the dow but if you put it in perspective, it's just a pin drop into what and how much the dow has actually lost over the past month. we are, the december we've had,

we haven't seen these kind of losses since the great depression. you have to think about the political influence, now part of the play book here on wall street. when president trump tweets he's now directing the trade, this is a market that's still reeling from steve mnuchin's phone call he made to big bank ceos that left lots of investors scratching their heads, why the treasury secretary would make calls about liquidity during a time there's no apparent crisis. so sees erratic movements in the trump administration that continues to really hang over the market despite you seeing those green arrows. i'm not really seeing conviction trading happening here today. manu? >> alison kosik in new york. thank you for that. reporting and insights, margaret with bloomberg, john with politico, damian with "the washington post" and kim with "the washington post." damian, i want to start with

you. obviously, the markets have endured the worst december since the great depression but they don't tell us everything about what's happening in the economy. so when you look at this drop, what does it tell you about where things stand with the economy at large? >> great question. i think we've seen really strong jobs numbers and gdp kbroet. the economy has been growing strong for the past year. on the one hand, maybe we can endure this 4,000 or 5,000 but what we have to watch is this is going to affect consumer behavior, right? if people say, hey, i don't have as much money as i thought i did a few months ago, we're not going on that vacation or not going to redo the kitchen, you see this affect a lot more people and that's the kind of stuff to play out in the next couple of weeks. >> do the president's words have an impact about the way things are going? you saw that tweet from christmas eve and then a big route that day, how much of an impact these tweets are having and investors behaviors. >> i think the tweets are

hurting things. the accountants from the treasury secretary in terms of the press release out of nowhere on sunday made things worse as well. the markets want a little bit of quiet and certainty. they don't like this kind of whip saw back and forth trade negotiation style and i think the more quiet we get out of the white house, i think it will help a lot. >> quiet out of the white house, very difficult to do. and clearly trying to reassure things that the fed chairman, he's safe. kevin said 100% guarantee he's not going anywhere but yesterday, the president, he didn't go that far. >> the government reopen? >> mnuchin? >> yes, i do. very talented guy, very smart person. raising interest rates too fast. that's my opinion, but i certainly have confidence but i think it will straighten. they're raising interest rates too fast because they think the economy is so good, but i think

they will get it pretty soon. >> we'll see. about the fed chairman. how much trouble is, obviously, there are questions whether he can actually do anything to fire the fed chairman but steve mnuchin blames on the first place. how much trouble did you hear from mnuchin with the administration? >> you'll never see me go out and say 100%, president trump, but it seems like the floating of the discussions that were happening inside and the insane reaction that investors had has the president a little bit for now. i think he's really frustrated with the situation with the markets, with the perception of what that means of his trade policies and the shutdown and stuff, taking some of the blame for that. he's looking for someone to blame. it does seem that for now, his advisers have helped him to be convinced that there's not a clear legal path for him to do anything with jay powell and i think the political situation

makes it difficult to do much with the treasury secretary. so that's what we're seeing for now, but there is this continued interest in the president. talking to jay powell or someone at the white house who's not steve mnuchin. that's where we see the activity in the white house. maybe a consideration wiversatil wouldn't be bad so the president could understand the nuances. >> who knows which way it will go. >> presidents have had conversations with the head of the fed before and it's not common and usually under special circumstances and for a reason. >> and actually, president obama did have a conversation with janet yellen at the time and it's different with this chairman but one of the things that's central about the president so far, you know, poor poll numbers across the board since he became president. one thing has been the economy, how he's handled the economy.

generally gets high marks. if you look at just a cnn poll from december 6th to december 9th, 49% believe he was doing a good job of handling the economy. 10% higher than everything else basically. you talked to republicans all the time on the hill. how much are they concerned right now about what they're seeing in the markets? the president's uneven reaction to how he's dealing with the economy and what this may mean in the coming years? >> i think privately, they're pretty exasperated with the president. can't predict what he's going to do next and that's been trump's negotiating style. it's been his style as president. but right now, in a period where there is market volatility and there is a government shutdown going on, even a partial government shutdown, they're not sure what he's going to do next and what his next move will be and that just really frustrates them. you know, they privately bash him and bash the white house

staff but publicly, they tow the line with the president but i do think there's a lot of frustration right now. they lost the house. they still hold the senate. but they want to move on. they want to move away from the shutdown and move on and they're worried about the economy. everyone right now is worried about it. they feel like it's a pivoting moment right now. a hinged moment in the trump presidency. >> look at how the dow has dropped since took office in january 2017. a significant decline that we've seen, particularly in the last month. >> up overall. >> decline but this is why presidents typically don't embrace the volatility on wall street because if you take credit for it, you've got to own the bad side too. >> live by the dow and die by the dow. that nervousness from capitol hill is why on matters of the economy, when congressional republicans do disagree with the president, you have seen them speak out a little bit more.

it's really calm on tome on iss national security that they're willing to push back. one of the biggest dividing lines and the issue of trade with president trump that the president has levelled and threatened. clearly when it comes to the fed chairman, you're hearing senior republicans speak out and warning the president. let the fed stay independent. don't mess with the chairman and whatnot. because they know that obviously republicans want a good economy but also key to his political fortunes in 2020. >> damon, you know jay powell as well as anybody else. he'll probably have this meeting with trump in the new year. we talked about that and he'll face, we'll see what trump has to say but do you think he's susceptible to the political pressure publicly and probably privately as well? >> here's the problem. it's never popular to raise interest rates. jay powell is not the first person to do that. it does slow the economy down because it makes it more expensive to borrow money.

the problem for jay powell is now anything jay powell does is second guessed and looked through this lens of, he's not raising interest rates because trump told him to and now the fed has no credibility or raising interest rates to stick it to the white house and this guy can't be trusted anymore. what's interesting to watch the last interest rate increase that was unanimous. a lot of people with lots of different perspectives agreed it was time to raise interest rates. 2019 though, it will be different. it will be hard. if the white house keeps job owning them and if the political support erodes, powell has done a good job of rallying political support but if it erodes, it will be tough heading into 2020. >> so much to watch in the days ahead. new question for the department of homeland security after another migrant child dies in u.s. government custody. gentle means everything,

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homeland security said the agency is making changes after a second guatemalan child died in

border patrol custody. christmas eve after being detained with his father since december 18th. the boy identified as felipe. cbp said the 8-year-old went to the hospital with flu symptoms but was diagnosed with a cold, prescribed antibiotics and released. later that night, taken back to the hospital with more severe symptoms and that's where he passed away. the cbp said there will be an independent investigation and they don't know the child's cause of death yet. cnn's nick valencia is live in el paso, texas, with more. briefed officials today. what new policies is customs and border protection implementing? >> reporter: according to the dhs secretary effective immediately, asking or going to count on more resources from the department of defense. they're also expecting the coast guard to come in with what is now secondary screenings for these child migrants, all child migrants get that secondary screening but from what we hear,

the primary focus will be on children 10 years and younger. children like this 8-year-old from guatemala who passed away on christmas eve. according to the cbp statement, did get medication. the amox silllin and ibuprofen but the type of medical care he got part of this investigation. was he given the proper attention he needed? he was effectively diagnosed with a common cold. goes in the morning of christmas eve and within 14 hours of cbp agent noticing he's in bad shape, he is dead. passes away just shortly before midnight on christmas eve and that leaves a lot of people wondering what kind of care he got and condition he was in. we understand the guatemalan authorities reached out and interviewed the father to get what they say is his version of the facts and we understand that father is still in custody but these steps now, manu, are being taken immediately by cbp and the government. >> nick valencia from el paso,

texas, thank you so much and here with me in the studios. sara gan sara murray joining our conversation. it's the second child in the past month. when the 7-year-old girl died, the administration was very, expressed their concerns and sympathies for the family but didn't accept any responsibility for their policies contributing to it. here's how they responded at the time. >> how many children 17 years old or younger have died in dhs, ice, or cbp custody since you took office? >> i'll get back to you on that figure. whale tell you is we've saved 4,200 migrants. >> approximately how many have died? >> i understand your question, sir. i'll get back to you. >> can you give me an approximate figure? >> i'm not going to guess under oath. >> adds we spethere's a surge o

immigration that presents a national crisis now. not a month from now, not a year from now, but right now, now. >> does the administration take responsibility for the girl's death? >> for a parent taking a child on a trek through mexico to get to this country? >> no. >> the first thing when nielson testified last week, she couldn't give them any answers about how many children have died. >> it's pretty stunning to think she's there, going before congress, it seems like that's a number you should know. like, it doesn't seem like this should be happening so frequently that that's a statistic you should be unaware of. obviously, if you're the united states, you would like this to never happen. it's a tragic loss. some have lost their child and they do take their own lives when they decide to do that, but it gives us an idea of how little we know about what happens to these children and these families once they are in

custody. the fact she would go before members of congress and not have the answer at the ready, you could see they were not pleased. >> and she'll continue to get that going forward. you cover immigration very closely. one thing you hear the immigration say time and time again, there's not much difference in the way they've implemented their policies and the obama administration. taken a much more hard line approach but how do you assess the difference with the trump administration with the obama administration? >> the trump administration has been much stricter in terms of how to process these asylum seekers. under u.s. law, you can apply for asylum once you're in the country but the trump administration has said even if they, they must essentially arrive at a port of entry to apply for asylum, which is not the case. you can cross between ports of entry and apply for asylum but the administration is taking a

different interpretation of that and one thing about the administration's policies, they're coming under charge next year and while we talk about investigation over russia issues or conflicts of interest. one of the constant areas of the potential investigations. it's the issue of immigration. speaking with the presumed homeland security chairman. he has a litany of administration policies on immigration and investigates. so the asylum policy, the family separation policy, the travel ban and once the house gained subsequent powers and something they're going to be asking a lot of questions. >> how much is pelosi making this an issue for the oversight responsibilities, when you look at all the things they want to investigate and where does this rank in priorities? >> pelosi strongly opposed the border wall. called it immoral and said the immigration policies wrong and immoral. she's attacked them repeatedly

and not only will you see investigations but attack spending and try to attach provisions to legislation that will prevent the trump administration from implementing these policies. now, the republican senate will block it but there's going to be votes repeatedly in the next congress on this issue. not only investigations that will be voting on this. >> already, that's leading to this crisis right now. the other crisis, shutdown crisis in the next segment. a new message from a presidential ally is unlikely the shutdown ends anytime soon. so we improved everything. we used 50% fewer ingredients added one handed pumps and beat the top safety standards the new johnson's® choose gentle

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>> today, the first full day of business missed because of the five day old government shutdown. look for urgency to end the shutdown and you'll find little. most of washington is still not in washington. when they get back, the conversations will pick up but without a firm idea of the bottom line or if the democrats had any incentive to meet the white house somewhere in the middle. congressman mark meadows is a chairman and one of the closest allies on the hill. thank you so much for joining us here. on saturday, chuck schumer took to the senate floor and said bluntly, the president must abandon the wall to reopen the

government. you met with the president on saturday. did you think there was any situation where the president will give in to that demand to give up on the wall? >> i can tell you, he voted for what we call a bill that would actually and his position changed since 2006 but to suggest a secure border is not something that most americans would agree with. i can tell you the president is if i recall in h firm in his resolve with the border and encouraging me and others to enter in discussions with democrats but a lot of progress that has been made today. >> he's encouraging you to try

with nancy pelosi and chuck schum schumer. >> encouraged rankin file members to have discussions across the aisle. great across the aisle. jared kushner, knight, really engaging around the clock and the president, i will say this, fully engaged up through the christmas break on the phones with different senators and members of congress. a wall of sorts with the democrats. a single dollar towards border security and i don't know if that's the position that is defensible. especially in light of some of the past votes that many of my democrat colleagues have taken. >> have you talked to him since saturday and if you have, have you had a chance to meet with

him since you met on saturday? >> i have. obviously, i don't make public a lot of the private conversations i have had either with the president or the administration. >> is he? how would you characterize his attitude right now? do you think he's willing to see this fight play out for potentially weeks, if the democrats don't come closer to what he's asking for? >> i can tell you, his resolve is very firm. he believes that his negotiating team has made, you know, several offers that would result in a compromise but still money for border security and yet, at the same time, it hasn't been received by democrat colleagues in a manner that would suggest they're taking his resolve seriously. i can tell you, if they believe this president is going to yield on this particular issue, they're misreading him, misreading the american people because he's intent on making

sure that not only he follows through with this commitment to the american people but that he makes sure that our borders are secure, there's less drugs, less terrorists, human trafficking, drug trafficking that takes place. >> you don't think there's any way he'd accept $1.3 billion the democrats say they'll not move off of? any way he'd accept that? >> i'd say no, no. i would suggest come close to 1.3. they were at 0. he's at $5 billion. average person said certainly should be a compromise. that compromise is not $1.3 billion which is less than they had in the department of homeland security bill just a few months ago. so i don't see that as a reasonable counteroffer with my democrat colleagues, manu. >> before i let you go, i want to see if you have any concerns at all in the new congress, house democrats will have the majority, if the senate

republicans are going to be not as resolute as you are on this and may try to cut a deal with the house democrats to keep to reopen the government on a short-term basis. any concerns that the senate republicans are not as resolute as you and the president are on this fight? >> well, i mean, obviously, i don't want to speak for my senate colleagues. i have had a number of conversations with four or five different republican senators that are fully engaged in conversations with those across the aisle and i think they understand that the president's position but also understand that we have to have secure borders. this is not something that can really be kicked down, the can can't be kicked down for another time because we've been doing that for decades. it's time now to make sure that we hold firm and we do what we told the american people we would do. hopefully, there's a compromise. i can tell you that being inside

the room, hearing the negotiations, the president and his team have consistently been willing to make reasonable offers. hopefully, one of those reasonable offers will be accepted soon. >> mr. meadows, thank you so much for joining us and your insight. appreciate it. see you back here in washington. we also want to welcome our international viewers who have just joined us and your reaction to mark meadows. saying he's talking to the president. he's willing to hold firm and not going anywhere near what the democrats want, $1.3 billion for border security. meadows is right. this could go on for a while. >> also said there was no evidence that trump was talking to him, so you have to be careful when you're talking about donald trump that he could change the parameters of what he's talking about. >> maybe meadows is concerned he could get undercut by the president. >> i don't know. let's play this out. if they don't do a deal this week, democrats will take charge

of the house and speaker nancy pelosi will put a funding deal on the floor. it will pass in a democratic majority and then go to a republican run senate and then what happens? mitch mcconnell will ask his colleagues what they think and if he thinks they need to pass it. >> that's why i asked the question at the end. i see the scenario possibly playing out. the house passes something and mcconnell feels a lot of pressure from his guys to reopen the government. a lot of frustration with republicans. do you think that could happen that congress tries to move and overcome any presidential veto on this? >> i think that's certainly possible because, look, republicans want to be able to back up the president on his policies but not willing to risk a shutdown over it. time and time again, there is a coalition among house republicans led by mark meadows who have asked for a shutdown standoff but the vast majority of republicans think the the shutdown is not a good idea. shutdowns are never a good idea and end as much as is possible.

>> the president seems to think this is a good idea. >> yes but was sending him up the hill to cut a deal before christmas. trying to figure out what his play is and i think this terrible tragic death of the second child is going to add a new element of pressure to the shutdown negotiations. the president may try to say this is evidence of the need for a wall, but i think democrats say, if you want us to give you money, what you need money for is taking care of these very fragile children who were in your care and from that call today, the briefing call with dhs, we learned that other than these two children, it had been a decade since you had children crossing the border. only a half dozen adults died other the past year so i think the death of the second child has changed the administration's perception of the problem. i think there is a handgunness now -- willingness to take things seriously.

and mexican health officials now whether there's actually a virus problem. so when there's an epic tragedy that enters the shutdown talks, it injects a new element. >> real life consequences to this fight. up next, an update on justice ruth bader ginsburg who had surgery for cancerous nodules in her lung last week. cascade platinum does the work for you, prewashing and removing stuck-on foods, the first time. wow, that's clean! cascade platinum. so we improved everything. we used 50% fewer ingredients added one handed pumps

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topping our political radar ginsburg is back at home.

ginsburg had two bouts with cancer but no evidence that any remaining disease in her body. atlanta mayor keysha lee finding out everyone is a food critic on twitter. the mac and cheese got panned as overcooked by some followers including one who said the photo, quote, dried out by contact lenses. took the critiques in stride saying you have to add more cheese at the end and mix it up to make it juicy. we now know what was said on the other side of a christmas eve phone conversation president trump had with a young girl who was patched through to the white house to call and find out where santa was. he raised quite a few eyebrows for asking the 7-year-old if she still believed in santa since that's a marginal age, right? here's both sides of that call for context. >> what are you going to do for

christmas? >> probably put out some cookies and then we're hanging out with our friends, that that's pretty much all. >> you just have a good time. >> yes, sir. >> are you still a believer in santa claus? >> yes. >> 7, it's marginal, right? >> yes, sir. enjoy yourself. >> classic moment there. up next, a look at which democrats to watch next for possible presidential runs. shhh. that's it. sleep tight little one. thanks, mom. you take such good care of him. that's what grandmas do. i don't know what we'd do without you. well, i made sure you'll have help even after i'm gone. after you're gone? mom, are you ok?

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the heart of the holiday season. democrats are having heart to heart talks with their families about whether to run for president in 2020. here's a look at who's expected to announce their decision by early next year according to cnn's dan. former vice president joe biden, for one, he said he knows he

needs to make up his mind by january and kamala harris said a decision she makes over the holidays and michael bloomberg telling the ap january or february is late as you could wait before announcing. let the countdown begin. what do you think is the democratic message to beat trump? there's controversy after controversy engulfing the white house but how do they? what do the democrats need to focus on what do? >> any democrat has any idea how to defeat trump ar how to or ho. you saw it in the midterms. don't alienate the trump voters because you need to appeal to white working class voters who voted for trump this time around. maybe a little bit of buyer's remorse but can't slam trump like he's satan reincarnated or something like that because he's

not to these voters. and then find a way to invigorate the base and that's something hillary clinton failed to do. for a democrat to do both of those things, walk the fine line, i don't think anyone has the special sauce yet and it's still very early and i think you learn once you start campaigning, so we'll see. >> that's the base and moderate pragmatic, republicans, and also, this doesn't seem to be tons of satisfaction. a new poll from usa today, a suffolk university poll saying today, asking how do they feel about the president's people running for president. most people want somebody entirely new to run for president. incredibly wide open. >> somewhere between 18 and like 40 candidates, right? and increasingly, the membership of the democratic party are women and people of color but

overwhelmingly, those prospective candidates are not. some are, some are men and some are people of color but a lot of candidates and leading the very early polls, even too early to call polls or more like gut check or something like that or white men, so i think there are a couple of battles inside the party. what's the right face for that candidate or background for the candidate? insider or outsider? what does outsider mean anymore? means you never held elected office or held outside. and didn't win the race but i think it's too soon to know where things are going. >> in the democratic party, come down to get behind some of the candidates. brown, starting to get a meeting with president obama. former president obama as he continues and how much do you think the president obama's

endorsement means a lot? >> i think he would stay out. >> biden gets in. >> unless joe biden gets in. but i also think brown is a very interesting candidate because the battleground will be the same as it has been the last couple of cycles. can a democrat play in the midwest? jerry brown, i mean, trump won ohio. you've got to be able to beat trump in michigan, ohio, wisconsin, pennsylvania. you have to be able to be competitive there, but then you also have to take the message to florida and other places. we know what the battleground will be. which democrat fits in the best? >> you have to be able to beat trump. trump is just not going to lose on his own accord and i think that's what a lot of people bet on in the last presidential election, he was going to go down in flames because of his own words and actions and did not work that way last night. if you're a democrat, betting it's going to happen this time. >> talk about next, what to

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wall street's meltdown and the government shutdown may be stealing the headlines as 2018 comes to a close but the mueller investigation still has been the story of the year and promises more big developments after the calendar turns. to recap, four people have been sentenced to prison, one has

been convicted in court, seven people implicated entered guilty pleas and total of 36 have been charged. looking ahead to january and february, expecting movement in the cases with rick gates and paul manafort and michael flynn associate. march should also be busy. manafort sentenced. michael cohen reporting to prison and a status hearing in the flynn sentencing on the 13th. joining us now, cnn crime and justice reporter shimon prokupecz. shimon and sara has been covering this closely. you have questions about what happens in 2019 whit comen it co the president. what's happening? >> the biggest question is what's happening with the president and whether he actually has to follow up with mueller with answers to the questions that have already been submitted. does mueller force him to come in and actually do an interview? i know there's people who don't believe that's the case but i don't think that we have seen a

resolution on that and i don't think that's over yet. obviously, there are still a lot of other open issues, certainly, the rick gates issue, his cooperation. that's still very much ongoing and we still have no idea just how much help he's been providing the mueller teamteams >> could we get to a point in 2019 where they could be a subpoena for this president? >> that's possible. i think a lot of people believe that issue has already come up and the mueller team has moved on from that. i'm not sure we have nothing to indicate that's happened except people like rudy giuliani say what they may say on any given day. but the president, whether or not he has to go before mueller is going to be a big question. >> those answers, some saying, i don't recall and roger stone.

>> this is like my lifetime question now. what's going to happen to roger stone? we've had his associates in and mueller's team and appeared before the grand jury and so the big question is will they actually decide to bring some kind of charges against roger stone? we know mueller's team is formally asked for the transcript of house intelligence committee from roger stone's appearance and turned it over. mueller's team has some suspicion that roger stone lied when testifying to congress and mueller's team brought charges against other folks and pressured them to cooperate and what happens to roger stone if he faces charges and how would he react and jerome said he's expected to face legal trouble. officially no charges and will we see this cast of characters grow and go in for more follow-up interviews in the new year? >> another big question everybody has, when will this end? i want to take you back to 2017. the white house lawyer at the

time predicting a quick end to the mueller probe. he said, i'd be embarrassed, this is still haunting the white house by thanksgiving and worse if it's haunting him by years end. told reuters, i think the relevant areas are narrow. that was august of 2017. >> a lot of speculation but i think what we're seeing is that mueller is doing this at his pace and no matter what anyone says or thinks, this is going to get done when it is done. we may sit here for several more months dealing with this because still so many open ended parts of this investigation that's ongoing and every time, we think we've reached a finale, something new happens. something else comes up. i still think, what's the big bombshell to come? i don't think we have that yet. if that exists. we still don't have that yet. >> get into a big fight about releasing the report and whether it's a fight on capitol hill. >> mueller will probably have to

go before members of the congress and that's going o open it it up. >> not going to end anytime soon. thank you for watching us, joining us on "inside politics "politics." bash dana bash takes over right now. we start with positive news for investors. it's been a bit of a roller coaster. that's an understatement. the finish is expected to be on the positive side and if that happens, it would be a very, very welcome sign after historic, historic bad days including the worst christmas eve drop in history. i want to get straight to cnn business correspondent alison kosik who is on the floor