and the game changes. it is at desire for reelection. on entitlement programs tonight at 8:00 eastern on q&a on c-span. yesterday about the president and his fundraisers in new york, what did he tell republican donors? guest: yesterday, for the president was sort of a victory lap in some ways. he, for the first time addressed the tax reform bill passing the senate. it was for him sort of a big moment. he got to brag about the bill and said it was the largest tax cut in u.s. history by far. he praised republicans for passing the bill. he did not mention bob corker not voting, but he suggested

republican senator that did not vote for it. he did his usual song and dance about how much -- by how far he won the election. reporters only about to witness about five minutes of this conversation and then rushing out of the room. that was in new york. they clearly wanted to send a message publicly they are thrilled about what is going on. host: all of this coming with michael flynn, is guilty plea on friday. it was an interesting day. the guilty plea came in the morning and early saturday morning the senate passing this tax bill. it now this a conference. guest: it was a split screen moment for the administration, one of many you have seen. on one hand you have by most accounts the biggest victories they have seen legislatively. this has not crossed the finish line yet, it has to go to conference.

you have this bombshell news about michael flynn and speaking to people in the white house. they were not given a heads up about what was going to happen on friday morning with michael flynn. they suspected something could happen but they did not in the moment going to happen. they were caught offguard. they were planning for the christmas party with the media. they were working on tax or form and all of a sudden their entire day was grown out of order. host: the washington post subdued president trump speaking from a couple of minutes at the christmas party and he quickly departing for the second floor of the white house. guest: i was not at the party because i was writing the michael flynn story but that is what i was told from people who attended. : host let me ask you about this a debt. i mentioned that because senate democrats used that as an argument yesterday. some calling it hypocrisy under

president obama when the debt doubled over eight years of a democrat in the white house. guest: right. democratslicans and are speaking from both sides of their mouths on this issue. republicans have made lowering the debt a huge part of their policy platform. this would add $1 trillion to the debt according to the joint committee on taxation. that thiss counter bill would do so much more. eva lee to a huge amount of economic growth. they said it would at $1 trillion if he took into account the economic growth generated by tax cuts. this will be an issue that will dog republicans throughout the conference and afterwards. host: we are getting word from the white house in 2018 the next focus will be in reducing government spending, most

notably taking aim at welfare and other entitlement programs. do you know anything more about that? guest: i have written quite a bit about this welfare reform issue. you are going to see potentially in the new year and executive order coming from the administration. not clear exactly what it will do. the underlying goal is to undo some of the obama era welfare programs. they had been quietly speaking ath house republicans about potential bill on welfare reform as well. it is in the very early stages so it is unclear with the substance of the bill will be. disobeying issue both congress and -- this will be an issue both congress and the president title next year. host:'s work is available online at politico.com. thank you for being with us on this sunday morning. guest: good to be here. >> newsmakers is next with democratic congressman adam

smith of washington's date. that is follow the supreme court oral argument and questions whether a search warrant is needed for law enforcement to access a person's cell phone data history. at 8:00, our conversation with john cogan who writes about federal entitlement programs in the book "the high cost of good intentions." susan: our guest is congressman adam smith of washington state, the ranking democrat on the house armed services committee, a member of congress since 1996. 11 terms. thank you for being with us. rep. smith: thank you for having me on. susan: let me introduce the reporters who will be asking two questions. leo shane writes for the military times. roxana is a bloomberg government covering defense and foreign policy. we want to start our conversation with the developing