politics have done just that. they've gone to their first protest march or made their first call to a member of put their names on a ballot for the first time. it can be such a rush to look around a room of full of people, ready to fight alongside you. feel that energy. imagine if better things are possible. but you too will experience setbacks and defeats an disappointments. therethere will be days you will wonder whether it's worth it. what i want you to know is that even today, even on the worst day of my political life i feel

like it all has been worth it. politics, paul wellstone told us, is about the improvement of people's lives. i know that the work i've been able to do has improved people's lives. i would do it all over again in a heartbeat. for a decade now, every time i would get tired or discouraged or frustrated i would think about the people i was doing this for and would bet me back up on my feet. i know the same will be true for everyone who decides to pursue a politics that is about improving people's lives. and i hope you know that i will be fighting alongside you every step of the way. with that, mr. president, i

yield the floor. neil: with that, senator al franken has resigned from the united states senate. he says he will do so in the coming weeks. he didn't specify how many weeks. that is important parliamentarywise because we don't know whether he wants to stay for the vote, not only temporary measure to continue the government and continue operating the government for another couple weeks and conclude by voting yea or nay, presumably nay on the tax cut package in the conference committee in both houses is now cobbling together and hopes to get to the president's desk by christmas. al franken wants to be a part of that before he steps down. keep in mind minnesota has democratic governor would likely remain a democratic president. there will be a special election to determine who will fill out

the rest of senator al franken's senate term. a fresh election after that. get response to all of this. no really big market move one way or the other. this was largely telegraphed and expected. the dow up 88 points. we have lee carter. democratic strategist jehmu greene. what do you think? >> it is about time. i don't want to say i told you so when the first allegation came out i asked for senator franken to resign. i think it took a little bit too long for democratic leadership to get here but they got to the right place, and to say in what we heard tom perez say in his statement yesterday, anyone serving in the u.s. house, in the u.s. senate or in any elected position, if you are guilty of sexual misconduct you should step down. that is a huge step for women who have been diminished -- neil: what if charged? al franken once again raised

possibility, to his memory some of this stuff didn't happen or was differently interpreted. should you step down even amidst the chars. even if they're not true? >> they're certainly credible charges. i did political training for women in minnesota, there was no doubt in my mind that these allegations were true. this is the reality. we need to start believing women, especially when you see woman after woman after woman come out and say, this behavior happened to me, and i know a lot of people have referred to this as sexual harrassment. this is sexual assault when you grope someone. we clearly have a society where men feel like they can't even remember doing this because it is so ingrained in their behavior, but guess what? we remember it as women. it diminishes us. it takes some women out of their professions completely and so i

don't have sympathy for, oh, my goodness, what about his career or all the good things he's done? i certainly understand he agrees with me on many issues but there are many qualified politicians who agree with us on many issues and we don't have a dearth of talent in the democratic party. thank you, senator franken. neil: i think that is your way of saying don't let the screen door hit you on the way out. one of the things that was interesting, lee carter, i want to raise this with you, senator acknowledging his own mistakes stepping down but pointing on the way out there are others who have done and said worse. i want you to react to this. >> i will be resigning as a member of the united states senate. i am of all people aware that there is some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault

sits in the oval office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the senate with full support of his party. neil: all right. lee, he is talking in the latter part in this case, roy moore, a alabama senate candidate, charges that date back decades on younger women, girls at the time. what do you think? >> listen, i'm not surprised that he brought it up. i think all minds are thinking about this very thing. as we were expecting al franken to resign today, the question what does this mean for the president? what does it mean for the alabama race? i think contrast is really clear. franken did the right thing and step down. moore should do the same thing. the president should talk about as separate issue. neil: but moore isn't likely to do that? >> moore is not going to do that. neil: say he is elected. he leads in some polls. he is elected. what would you advise?

>> that is one of the worst things that could happen to the republican party. now that franken has resigned and if moore wins this will make the republican party lose any moral high ground they have had. the whole notion that they have stood for republican conservative values, family values. neil: if alabama voters didn't care about that or ignored that, or said it was more important they deny a liberal liberal chance to, override. >> charges could come. take charges, end up losing his job. could continue the investigation. neil: fill out his term. jeff session's old term. >> this is bigger than alabama. on the day that we became aware basically senator franken was going to resign the republican national committee sent almost $200,000 to a man that a mall

kicked out of, because at 30 years old, he was approaching 14-year-olds for sexual relations. that is a child molester who just got almost $200,000 from the republican national committee. neil: they have not proven the mall thing. i'm not here to apologize. i point i want to raise here he will enter the united states senate, in event he wins, charges go back decades. no system in place in the senate to handle that. what do they do? >> i certainly hope somewhere within republican leadership in the senate, they find a soul. we have seen a very clear lack of morality in the flip-flopping of the republican leadership on roy moore. hopefully, through the actions of senator franken, through the continuing reckoning and outrain republicans will come to understand that this is not just a fleeting moment.

neil: this will actually galvanize them? >> this will galvanize 100%. the fact that republican party started doing right thing. mitch mcconnell said early november, we'll separate ourselves. that was the right thing to do. the fact that now this week he is going back and saying, listen let people -- neil: president said that. >> i know it is not the right thing to do. both women, obviously and it is that, it sound like politics, notwithstanding that is superseding issue for both of you? >> i think to me, the thing, yes, i am a woman. these are issues very important to me. my question can this man do his job? can he serve the people as al francken just said. i can not serve the people be under this investigation. can this man serve the people. can he do his job embroiled in this kind of controversy. to me the answer is no, he can not. it will be a distraction. we'll not be able to focus on issues that matter most, doing right thing by american people. >> hopefully this is not a woman's issue.

hopefully this is not a partisan issue. this is an issue that every american should be concerned with. everyone who has a daughter, goes to a mall, doesn't want her approached by a 30-year-old, have them sent to the united states senate. these issues should supersede partisanship. we need -- neil: by that definition bill clinton probably should have resigned, right, in the middle of his stuff? >> bill clinton was held accountable. there was an impeachment process. guess what, he was impeached. he is one of two presidents who -- neil: senator gillibrand in new york probably should have resigned in retrospect what was going on then. what do you think? >> look, i actually at the time was running the women's outreach office for the democratic national committee. i had very strong problems as a young 20-year-old with the accusations and -- neil: environment is very different today, fair to say? >> is a different environment but accountability is something

we need to apply as democrats, as republicans, and as human beings. it is not that difficult. pretty simple, neil. neil: thank you very much. lee, thank you very much. north carolina republican senator thom tillis with us right now. senator on the fast-moving developments what do you think? al franken stepping down but not doing so for a few weeks. what do you read into the few weeks thing? >> probably has to do with the votes that we'll have towards the year-end, continuing resolution and the tax reform, conference report which i hope to send to the president's desk before christmas. i can assume it is only that. but i think he made the right decision stepping down. i'm right down from the chamber as it is unfolding before us. neil: my guests, jehmu greene, lee carter, coming from different worlds politics, the message to a roy moore, if that is the case he is elected, go,

republicans shouldn't welcome him. what do you think of that? >> mitch mcconnell thought he should step aside. he decided to stay in the race. now the voters of alabama will make a choice next week. i still think it need to go, the facts need to be subjected to the senate ethics process. you mentioned in prior -- only so much jurisdiction we have over this, i do believe we need to look in the facts. i maintain the position my preference would be for mr. moore to step aside. there are a lot of good alabamaians that could represent them in the u.s. senate. one thing distracts us from pressing matters we want to get to and promises we want to fulfill. neil: president framed this with if he becomes senator moore, that alternative better than president cast as liberal, chum schumer, nancy pelosi acco --

acolyte, anathema to everything the party stand for. what do you think of that? >> you kind of have to worry when you use ends justify the moans rationale for something you don't want to do. i go back to the fact, i know a lot of people in alabama that would be great public servants would not have this taint. this is about removing distractions so we get tax reform done, get infrastructure done, continue regulatory reform. those are the things that the american people wan to see. they do not want to see embarrassing chap we're in right now. anytime someone comes in, to keep the question going, at expense of important things we need to get done. neil: those agree spending package. something that lasts couple weeks separately, getting tax cut thing done, iron out differences between your body and of course the house. how likely is it that for example, on the budget, the temporary budget, that could be done by tonight, tomorrow? >> well, we'll have to see.

i think, i think that we will probably have a short-term cr. i don't like it. i hate crs in general. we'll come back before christmas and have something longer term. we have to work out differences with the house. we have to work out a difference with minority leader pelosi is threatening a shutdown over the daca issue. she is making bad, a terrible mistake, with respect to the daca population people like me trying to come up with a reasonable, bipartisan solution. neil: we'll watch closely, senator, thank you very, very much. as senator was speaking, those were reassuring words, market up about 100 points right now, even as al franken prepared to leave the united states senate. we'll have more after this.

neil: all right. if there is any thorny issue in these ongoing tax negotiations has to be deduction or lack thereof in very expensive states like new york, california, new jersey, illinois, it is a very, very big issue. they want to iron that out to get this signed, sealed for the president's signature all before christmas. gerri willis where this is all

going. >> that's right, neil, according to my sources i'm talk to a lot of people in washington the conferees ironing out differences talking about increase allowable deductions for property tax and state income taxes, good news for new york, right? the house and senate bill would allow taxpayers to deduct $10,000 of property taxes, conferees talking about boosting deduction and allow some state income taxes to be deducts as well. hallelujah. applying taxpayers to choose. either they deduct property taxes or state and income taxes up to a certain level. we don't really know what the level might be. it is all discussion. the big question, how would they pay for this? the answer? raising corporate taxes to 22% from 20%. we'll continue to follow this conversation. but it is getting pretty interesting for people in the high-taxed blue states. neil. neil: that he, very, very much, gerri. congressman don young,

republican from arkansas. he is on the conference committee, very crucial player in all of this. congressman, thank you for coming. >> thank you. correct you one thing, alaska, not arkansas. neil: apologize you, sir, i didn't get my state initials down, i apologize. beautiful state. >> oh, yes. neil: let me ask you, how do you feel about this tinkering with the corporate rates, maybe raise them a little bit to raise the deduction for state and local taxes? not as big of an issue in alaska, but potentially some of your colleagues other states? >> this is a conference and both sides have differences of opinion. that is why we sit down to debate. the goal is to get this bill done. i think you will see additions that help out the larger tax states. doesn't affect my state. i'm more interested in development of anwar and other things but i'm beginning to see this little shift because everybody has to give a little bit. i believe it will be become a reality. in heavily-taxed states may not

get exactly what they want than for instance what is in the bills right now. neil: part of the quid pro quo for that i guess, sir, you raise the corporate rate a little bit to pay for some of these concessions made for your colleagues on the fence or just outright nos. what if the corporate rate ends up not being at 20%? >> well you know, i believe the 20% is the correct number but again, i say we're trying to solve a problem, get tax reform in, and there is room to compromise in the house and senate. i expect it to go up a little bit, maybe 2%. i'm not sure. but i do think that will occur. and we'll see if, we're correct. as far as the time, will be a difference too. the senate doesn't implement in 2019. we implement immediately. we'll see effect on corporations. come back to the nation to create jobs everybody says will happen if we lower the rate to

20% from 36%. this is conferences. my 45th year, i've been on a lot of conferences. i'm optimistic we'll solve these problems. neil: first hurdle, more immediate hurdle on the spending measure to keep the government operating next couple weeks. are you for what has been laid out on the table? >> i know one thing i'm for, don't shut the government down. i lived in the newt gingrich era, they shut the government down, it is very painful. it hurts everybody. it doesn't solve a problem. you establish something you can't really undo quickly and consequence lit the country suffers. i'm not for shutting it down. the short-term extension is absolutely necessary and hopefully we get a long term extension back in january. neil: another chamber about, congressman, i grant you, but al franken resigning next few weeks, putting pressure on republicans how they greet or don't growth a roy moore should he get elected next week, what do you think? >> again the people, the people

make that decision. we have become judge menial ourselves, when the people do electing we have to accept the wishes of the people. i'm never happy with all the people that are elected but that is the people they represent. they have a right to pick whoever they wish to choose. and i will accept that. i will recognize it. i may not be too happy but i will do that. neil: all right. congressman, thank you very, very much. i apologize for screwing up your state. >> hey, remember one thing, 20 times bigger than arkansas. arkansas is a great state too. neil: now we have arkansas phones lighting up. thank you very, very much. >> god bless you. neil: be well. happy holidays. merry christmas. all of the above. remember the olympics scheduled for south korea, still are, in just a few months. people seem to be backing out. i'm not talking about russians getting thrown out. i'm talking about no less than u.s. officials contemplating the risks of going in the first place. what is going on here? after this.

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>> is the united states recommending our team goes or is that still an open question in this environment? >> there is open question. i have not heard anything about that. in the talks, whether jerusalem or north korea, it is how we protect citizens in the area. neil: we've been on this quite a while. like a dog with a bone. olympics the facts they're supposed to happen, slated to happen, in the winter in south korea, first russians are kicked out. we find out the is not sending any of its players. talk that the u.s. is assessing reassessing monitoring whether it is safe to do so. this might not be such a sure thing. we're on that in a few minutes. fox news saying top justice department official has been demoted this follow as familiar drill here, the contacts with

founder of fusion gps, behind that trump dossier. we have jcla executive director jordan sekulow. what do you make of that? >> we do not know enough about what the fbi and department of justice doing with fusion gps, they, the house, senate, they all want to know, all the american people want to know how much money, if any money was exchanged. we know there was a contract that was put in place, we don't know if it was ever executed with the fbi, overseen by doj and fusion gdp to continue work on so-called dossier. we have official being demoted. two officials from the special counsel's teams being demoted. one for sending 10,000 plus texts, some included anti-trump texts. he is demoted. another official, who he was having affair with demoted from

the special counsel's team. seems like again while you've got director ray was testifying today, but next week, the acting attorney general for this russia matter, rod rosenstein has to testify before congress. i expect a lot of questions on this, neil. neil: rosenstein, was guy who appointed special prosecutor by mull per of course who fired the one who was sending nasty texts about trump, a separate issue. i'm wondering, you're a very, very good lawyer, i'm not. i watched a lot of legal shows, i think i can count as expert, one of the things i do notice you want to leave a trail of suspicion if you eventually want to appeal or fight a decision that comes down, not friendly to you, in the trump administration, maybe this the suspicion bob mueller has bias, fbi, the investigation itself is bias. they can point back to these if it doesn't go their way. what do you think? >> when you have officials being

demoted by mueller because they are sending, they are biased, admit he hadedly so. they didn't fight back against that, they were demoted. two officials from the special counsel's team have been demoted. one is a being reviewed. he is a top official. neil: i'm saying if mueller did demote and or fire some of these people, there might be others, does that prove he himself is trying to be vigilant and fair about this, or, does it taint whatever is going on? >> the more and more people that get involved, neil, get demoted more it taints. after a while if you start demoting all top people, so far these have been top people that have been demoted, you're tainting the investigation. you're not helping the investigation out. et cetera specially when the american people and those who are fighting back on this, trying to learn about this, funding it. neil: like congress are not learning about it until months later that happened in august. we don't learn about it until

december. that is absurd. this idea, these retractions on the deutsche bank story, that undermines the investigation of the special counsel, when they allow a false report to hang out there for so long, that they subpoenaed record on donald trump, that they did not. neil: is that official by the way? that that never happened? >> yes. neil: the accusation deutsche bank sometime back had been asked to hand over any record regarding donald trump or his associates, so their finances, which is something that the president indicated earlier would be a line crosser there? >> a red line, right. neil: right. >> right. now you have the news agencies that reported that, was "wall street journal," bloomberg, who broke it initially. they have all retracted that story said associates at afp, makes more sense, it was likely the subpoena, likely in relation to paul manafort. we know his charges had nothing to do with the president of the united states. neil: all right. yeah, it is not very clear what

the position is on that. jordan, thank you very much, good seeing you again. >> thank you, neil. neil: other developments. wildfires destroyed 80,000-acres in california. a live report from the ground. see how big and massive this thing looks like from space. nfl commissioner goodell, big-money contract, at a time looking at big ratings falloff. charlie gasparino tries to connect the points and the bonuses.

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presume still is under lockdown. the school is 180 miles north of albuquerque. if we find out what precipitated this, we'll let you know. meantime high winds fueling dangerous california wildfires, so big you can see them from space. robert gray from california. robert? reporter: neil, thanks so much. the fires are torching right now. that is fireman speak, basically letting burn off on the brush. can see flare-ups here and there. we're in la conchita up the 101. you may can see if lance seemszooms in, keep them away from the homes and structures. they battled successfully to keep homes standing intact. some. locals we've seen milling about. we're across the street from the ocean, a little surf side

community here, fairly tight-nitzing folks interacting out here, neil. earlier south of here on the freeway. you can see the 101. you can see embers skipped across the mead yawn and six -- median and sick lanes of traffic to get to the other side. firemen saved seaside homes a little farther south of here. this is largest of the fires in the area. 100,000-acres have been burned. five% containment. neil, the pio reminding us, the public information officer said number goes down, it is a ratio. doesn't mean they're falling back or losing ground but the fire has gotten bigger. they said this will be a multicounty fire. they will be teaming up with folks from santa barbara county just north of here. that is the direction they expect the high wind to take flames a little later this afternoon. we should report, there has been one fatality. they're investigating that right now. that was an auto accident, unclear, it is directly related to the flames.

neil, back to you. neil: robert gray, thank you very much, my friend. meantime more talk what kind of incentives and bonuses were built into ronfer goodell's contract that could balloon it to $50 million a year. i grabbed charlie gasparino minutes before my fox news show and grabbed details that were not anywhere else only with us. we're always happy about that. charlie, it builds in a lot of incentives that balloon the base pay of 3 1/2 million. what are they? >> here is the problem. we don't know exactly what they are. they are not releasing the exact nature of them. here is where it gets sort of interesting. listen, let's be real clear here, there are 32 owners, 32 teams in the nfl. they are are sort of the board of the nfl. the ceo is the commissioner of roger good dell. they nominally work for him. he anomaly works for them

compensation committee generally sets tone. this is perfunctory vote among the owners there. is battle in billionaire boys club. by the way they're all billionaires. neil: the worst team is worth at least a billion. >> at worst team is worth at least a billion. the best team, most profitable team, dallas cowboys. jerry jones' team. neil: not a fan of goodell. >> what you have the last month or so, two months. you had a battle in this billionaires boys club. one side, jerry jones, dan snyder of the redskins, stan kroenke of the los angeles loss rams. on other side head of compensation committee which has to approve goodell's contract. arthur blank of the falcons, who is former head of home depot. bob kraft of the patriots. bob mara of the giants. probably missing one or two others. it is about five people in this

committee and they have been battling each other. jerry and this team over here wanted to hold up the contract and put really strict performance measurements on goodell's pay. they think goodell is not up to the job. some of the it is based on the fact jerry who is leading this charge is really mad at goodell sidelining ezekiel elliot, his star running back for six games. neil: that started it. >> the other thing is, jerry is worried when you talk to people around him, some of the metrics about the nfl. declining fan base. goodell on sop of that basically exasperated that problem by siding with the players on the one knee issue, with the protests. neil: right. >> which essentially annoyed and angered their base, fan base very patriotic. always has been in the nfl. jerry thought time was right to put controls or blow him out because he doesn't think he is good for the game.

the other guys said no. you can talk to them, all diffet reasons siding with goodell. my guess they didn't want jerry jones to get too much power in the whole thing. neil: a lot of them recognized the tightrope goodell was walking. >> he doesn't have a an easy job. i would say he made monumental mistakes, if you were a ceo and you gave ray rice a second chance. remember ray rice? neil: sure. >> he had domestic dispute with his wife. started out with a two-game suspension. allegedly ray rice told them everything that occurred during the dispute. a week or month later it comes out there is a tape, where it wasn't domestic dispute. it was domestic assault. ray rice cold cocked his wife. he hasn't been back in the nfl since. that was a big problem for roger goodell. neil: to be fair to goodell, there was back and forth whether he had access and knew of that tape earlier. we don't know.

real quick question to ask you. incentives are normally based at the time the contract is signed, right? >> yeah. neil: if get ratings incentive, pick up at low point, some would say by goodell's doing. so he could profit off kind of his incompetence by boosting the ratings from the level they're at now? >> did you talk to jerry jones? neil: no. >> because i'm sure that is exactly what he is saying. neil: because everything is based on where this level is at now. >> jerry jones believes that the performance metrics that he has now are easy to meet, including that. one other thing we should point out -- neil: the best time. >> not even that. all their tv contracts are set in tone the next three or five years. the real you know what, doesn't hit the fan when ratings go down, when millenials start not watching tv, cutting the cord, all that will occur in the future when his contract is up. until then he makes a lot of money. jones is saying these metrics

are easy to make. neil: did he get the private jet thing? >> he did get the private jet thing. interesting thing my producer brian schwartz found out b. if he can only use it for business. if he wants to take a vacation he has to pay for use of the private jet. apparently from our understanding he gets to own the private jet after five years. neil: really? >> they, bought him a private jet. that's what we were told. now we -- neil: insurance for family at rest of his life? >> i didn't get that granular. i assume that is thrown in there as well. that is kind of typical. ceo's get insurance. they should. neil: right. >> but it is the jet thing that i think caught -- jerry was making a big thing out of this. one other thing i point out, neil, this battle over goodell really has disrupted the billionaires boys club. there was always a comradery -- i used to go to the owners tailgate parties before the

super bowl. there was bob kraft -- neil: you went to the owners tailgate parties? >> yes, i have a source that bottom me in. you used to see bob kraft mingling with this guy, that owner, this thing between jerry, this sort of coup jerry jones led with kroenke and snyder disrupted sort of comradery. they will approve this ironically in dallas in the owners meeting in jerry's turf. i would love to be a fly on the wall in that meeting. neil: you don't have to be. you will be invited. i can get you into the olive garden. >> i don't think so. neil: you don't think i can get you in the olive garden. >> john tatum. neil: john can do it. thank you, my friend, he broke the news, others rapidly try to follow to catch up. as he is speaking we're getting confirmation, chuck schumer and nancy pelosi are now set to meet at the white house. the president can call chuck and nancy to avoid the whole title thing after this.

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neil: 76 years ago, very different pearl harbor after the big attack that thrust the united states into world war ii.

flags at half-staff across much of the country. remembering a day that tested all of us, that was then. a race to avoid a government shut down on defense spending. a defense measure called for letting us catch up, what republicans argue is underspending there. republican congressman who disagrees. he is jimmy duncan. he says true fiscal conservatives can not justify upping the defense budget to that degree. it would be over $100 billion where it is now, congressman. you're saying that is a little extreme, right? >> i would say to you billion over the budget caps, neil, it was billions more than even president trump suggested, i requested the question, makes me wonder whether there is any fiscal conservatives at the pentagon? i'm very pro-defense but you can go ridiculously overboard on anything. we more than doubled defense spending in 2000.

that is more than double the rate of inflation during those years. i think we need to look for ways to operate more efficiently with a little less money. i think it is possible to do that. neil: now, are you saying a little less money from the budget the way it is now, from what we're talking about, to break the spending caps, to allow for a little bit more? one of the things, for example, that john mccain said? >> i said in the speech on the floor our national debt has gone over $20 trillion, and we announced a few weeks ago the deficit for this past fiscal year was 666 billion. some people think it will be even high they are next year. so i think we've got to have some fiscal conservativism in every department, even in the defense department. and in fact there is waste, you know, even in the defense department. i'm, i'm a veteran. i started in the army as enlisted man. rose to the rank of captain.

i think national defense is probably our most legitimate, most legitimate function of our national government but i still think that we ought to operate frugally even in that department. i think certainly you carry special weight given your background and you're pretty consistent on this issue, having covered you, congressman, so i commend you of that. but your fears the genie could be out of the bottle to concessions want to raise the defense budget? democrats argue non-defense spending has to go up as well, suddenly all bets are off, aren't they? no that's correct. that is another concern of mine, because i see that heading down the road and i think we have another omnibus that busts the budget. what i have pointed out that the 700 billion-dollar defense bill we passed is not the whole story for defense. we passed military construction bill in separate bill.

that is another is 10 billion we added last 10 years in that area. the defense department gotten extra billions in almost emergency and supplemental appropriations bills we passed in recent years. i'm sure they have extra money in the omnibus. neil: are you for the tax cut? >> yes, i'm for the tax cut. but i'm also for spending cuts. i think we have to tighten our spending, reduce our spending in every department an agency of the federal government. neil: so when people look at this and say tax cuts should be paid for, obviously in that camp, you would do spending cuts but not too many are. administration, republicans are open to addressing welfare spending to get that under control, you would be for that? >> yes, i would be for that. i do believe that leaving more money in the private sector, the least economical, least efficient, way to spend money is turn it over to the federal

government. if that wasn't true, cuba, former soviet union and venezuela would be heavens on earth. i'm glad we're leaving more money in private hand. i think that will help the economy. i really don't believe this tax cut will lead, will add as much to the deficit as some of these predictions. neil: you're quite right to point out, 1 1/2 trillion dollars, everyone is sweating how that is paid for. no one pays attention to the nine trillion in debt added to conventional spending, perfectly fine with that, you know? >> well, that's correct. neil: congressman, thank you very, very much. >> thank you very much. neil: you're a brave soul. i will say that. >> thank you. neil: congressman, no one will argue with a military hero like that when it comes to defense spending but he does stand his ground here. we don't see enough of that on republican or democratic side, do we? al franken leaving the united states senate in a few weeks. a guy worked with him going back to his days on "snl," joe

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>> today i'm seen in the coming weeks i will be resigning as member of the united states senate. i have all people and mom and where there is some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a

man who has bragged on tape about its history of sexual assault lives in the oval office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the senate with a full support of his party. neil: al franken made an official you were signed in the coming weeks but not for our shots in the oval office. roy moore, alabama senate candidate waiting in the latest polls. what do you think of this? in a few weeks obviously you want to stick around for a couple of pretty big votes, but you related to my tax cover they know what you think? >> from hearing his speech, with absolutely clear, franken did not want to resign, but he was in fact forced out by his fellow democrats because it had been in or hurts the. democrats can't attack

republicans and franken and conyers are still in there. that's the reason he is out. his speech showed no signs of remorse. he basically said they women were liars and it's not about him but repeatedly made it about himself and it's been a very tough couple of weeks for him. it just shows the self-importance anybody was so important to the people of minnesota. the fact is gone in reality was because he was disposable and that democratic governor can pick his replacement. neil: the democratic governor can settle on a candidate within the next few weeks. they have a special election, serves out the remainder of franken's term. is that how goes? >> they will be a special election and so it's a pretty safe seat for a democrat. they will have a vote just like franken was a reliable democrat in that site is gone because he was disposable in a action have iraqi net.

neil: i'm not a pejorative here. it's gone with the independent governor, republican governor. it can tricky sometimes. >> he won his race. neil: so, what you make of the political mood lately that we are getting out of this and how it's reverberating across the country, a lot of democrats even on these developments mean we quickly handled the sins of our own, not those republicans. what are you hearing? >> that is again why he had to go even though he had no intention of doing so because it totally destroys the democrats narrative against roy moore and republicans and of course he made a parting shot at president tram. the reality is here to republicans can't do anything about roy moore and tell he's elected because the authority on the ballot. just like the assumption of stepping down. neil: no process stepping in

place. they have to redo the rule spoke peered >> exactly. they said if he wins they want to expel him. but that something that really hasn't happened before either. it's really uncharted territory. it is politics though, to because republicans don't want to give up the red state and alabama when the tax cuts in so many important votes coming out. neil: thank you very much. staff writer extraordinaire, how does the curve on this one. joe piscopo, you remember him from snl, the best of any generation of comics, certainly very good singer. first of all your reaction now. >> it is sad. it's tough to watch. don't forget we replaced the original cast.

billy murray in chevy chase. neil: coming after mohammed ali. >> danny aykroyd and i'll franken was there with tom davis. listen, i remember we went in and make it at eni, fired everybody else. so we are in their and then they bought the guns from the original "saturday night live" at michael donahue was there. these are legendary writers. these are like legendary writers. i was in awe of. i'll franken was one of them. and then he was nice. neil: any of this stuff came up at the pictures and everything else. >> i never saw it. i was shocked. it's so surreal as i'm watching the monitor. first of all, i'll franken became a senator. and then, the groping and there's no denial.

he was doing, d. >> i say that. i don't know how any guy has the atrocity to do that. i am like a dork. before we went on the air, it like i can imagine being that audacious to be able to think that it's going to be okay. a father of three daughters i worry about that, but it's sad for me right now. neil: you don't have any pictures that could come out. >> don't even go there. neil: where we going with this? during the comedy. it's a very popular radio show. you have to place yourself a little more than you have? >> you know, great question i have not. i really have not. i was emceeing a big event a week ago and there was a model

they are. she came out. she was one of the presentation models animated jokes same delightful italian guys and i'm like yes i said it, go ahead. if i run for office to show it because they think we are getting a little crazy with it. you can joke in a respectful way. we said this before on your show. the pendulum is going way out of the way. even if it doesn't go out of control. neil: what she annoyed this particular one in? >> at the thing. she laughed. you can't take the club. if you are from the clubs, it has nothing to do with groping. if women come out on my behalf, they are going to be disappointed joe didn't do anything. he was boring. neil: who am i to judge? i work in a big old glass house. i am well aware of that. i want to advance to what

happens. democrats are trying to say is we deal with those problems swiftly even though corporate market deals and everything we have now. is there a middle ground on this, should we wait, you can argue that franken was denied an investigation into this. and anyway, republicans say i have no patience for that. neil: you wouldn't want to look into charges? >> if they say i did that, get the heck out. >> you've got to give them the benefit of the doubt. neil: roy moore denies charges. >> i know. i think what is happening now is this is a setup where you're seeing what democrats are doing to go after i wonder who they're trying to go after.

>> it's tough for me as i stood before you put the loyalty and the family "saturday night live" paper with something like this happens, that was uncalled for. when they went after the president a half-hour ago, an hour ago. i was totally uncalled for. neil: when all this came out. >> that's what this is all about. don't they were pressured all of that. where does he go? >> that's a great question. write the book. would he be on the comedy circuit. >> i don't think so. louis ck. these guys we have all admired. i have a chance now in the comedy club owners and they say we have to sort of police a little bit more and not all the

time but if you're going to veer into harassment issues we just preferred that you not. >> when i had my daughter here, she's doing college. i don't know that i would've thought of that when i see her coming in to the work place. i'm kind of glad all of this is going on in there calling up people like this because i worry about my kids. neil: because of all of this going on, it is swinging the other ways that men are going to be very, very careful to the point of not interacting for fear of it being called on something and it hurts the very women who are trying to advance in corporate america. >> i'm walking in your finder is now. i'm going to have blinders on like the worse as you see in central park. i'm not looking at you. neil: you did when you came in a few minutes ago.

you are looking at all of them. >> lifetime alimony. just like that. >> did you see the women >> i have a daughter as well. it could change that mailboxes could say you know what, every meeting i hold with you the doors open i'm going to have another female sitting in here, which is something you would not do for e-mail. wait a minute, this could actually stunt their corporate growth. >> now is the time to do that. look at me. they always joke, you're the young wife, young girlfriend. at the appropriate myth -- neil: i'm sorry i made the mistake of thinking she was your daughter. very rude of me. i apologize. >> that was my daughter. i date age appropriately now. neil: so looking at past and

i'll franken, double another era. >> he loves to watch me squirm. two minutes ago. now i'm in rough shape. neil: did you have i'll franken on your show? >> now. on the radio show you mean? our show is very much open, very, very open. but it's so funny you're right. this is a great example. my new sky goes it was kind of an inappropriate thing that happened that you could live longer if you get a certain something. i'd be inappropriate here on the air. he said during a commercial break. that's hysterical. he made if you are with somebody and i'm been appropriate. i said do not say that on the

air. neil: is policing you now. >> going back to what you asked me earlier, do please myself. it's been respectful to the audience. neil: are you afraid to the point is changed everything? >> it'll come back. honestly, if i did not daughter's i would have no idea. it's like themselves -- look at me. i'll be working until i'm 107. i've got a little daughter to worry about. you know. neil: you have a beautiful family. >> i'm very respectful to girls. neil: look at the time. >> if i ever did anything wrong and the fbi, don't get the fbi, get to pluto. [laughter] what do you drive me.

neil: here it is. have at it. his show was terrific. it moves fast and it's topical without being demeaning. it can be done. >> and appropriate. neil: and appropriate or inappropriate? >> it can be done. neil: we will always argue in his defense when it comes to legal matters. meanwhile, the economy is growing under donald trump because of barack obama. after this. my experience with usaa has been excellent. they always refer to me as master sergeant. they really appreciate the military family, and it really shows. we've got auto insurance, homeowners insurance. had an accident with a vehicle, i actually called usaa before we called the police.

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neil: what you think of the corporate rate than not the innate 20%? >> you know, i believe 20% is correct, but again i say we are trying to solve a problem, get tax reform and in their compromised in the house and senate. i expected to go up a little bit, maybe 2%. i'm not sure. neil: let the wheeling and dealing began. iowa republican congressmen, good to have you. >> neo, good to be on your show. thanks for having me. how does the congressman followed joe piscopo. neil: it is tough but have every faith you can do because you're

very good. let me ask you what your colleague from alaska with pain. no one is married to anything come of the make or break just to get the deal done, but they have their priorities, his priorities to keep the corporate raider 20%, but if it gets more people on board, they bring it up to 22% to try to help people in high tax states, so be it. would he think of that? >> yeah, the art of government is fighting for what you believe and strongly and at the end of the day, we have to compromise a bit in an conference we have to compromise a bit. if the corporate tax rate, which is currently 40% comes up to 21% or 22% and look at it as a whole, that's a big win for business, big win for the economy. before the break the economic growth economy experiencing right now because we are almost at double the rate we saw under

president obama's eight years. neil: what it should make a president obama more or less saying this is the obama recovery. i mean, he did pick up from where we left with the severe recession so he seemed to be taken about for the continued recovery going on now. what did you think? >> it is probably something presidents do since the beginning of time. we all have to agree on that. he left this economy in better shape than we found it. clearly we are growing the first three quarters of this year that double the eight year average of the obama presidency. when the beating stopped, morale improves anything for the business world, when we elected a businessman to say it in the oval office, the beating stopped. the regulatory beatings have stopped and now we want to get the government's backhand out of the back pocket of businesses

and individuals then i think the economy can grow at 3% a sustained. neil: to beatings minus.but some of the are not off topic. are you worried that's going to be an issue in a problem assuming you can get a tax cut signed into crew that it might limit in the future because the these distractions. >> there certainly has a lot of them if you want to call the distractions. i had it through this before. it's only been three years. last time is in the 80s with reagan. what we are seeing is folks that enjoy currently a loophole in the tax code is in there over the last 30, 35 years being reduced or been taken away. those are a lot of the folks we are hearing from and they tend to be about and they tend to get media time as well and we just have to power through this. as i said before he came on the air, it seems to me republicans are upset, democrats are upset,

the right subset, left is upset good neighbor we struck the right balance. neil: if everyone sticks after many onto something. >> everybody has to give a little bit. neil: thank you, sir. good seeing you. you heard what i was referencing about president obama. here's exactly what he had to say on the economy. >> as we took these actions, we saw the u.s. economy and grow more consistently with american history by far. and it still continues by the way. i've marked his economy who is right? >> i think perhaps in a backhanded way, i'll pawn his credit for the 3% growth we now

have because he effectively suppressed growth for so long because of his approach to regulation and its attitude towards business. it's easy to grow more rapidly with a relatively low base. neil: i'm not trying to spin that but it has picked up since president trump it at. i am wondering, would the economy has surged to the degree it has been we are talking a difference from roughly 2% to 3% plus growth. if obama were in office now, and in his ninth year now, what would they be looking at? >> growth of roughly 2%. 3% for some of the reasons i just mentioned. the heavy-handed approach towards regulation. the inability on obama's part to fully understand what it takes

to succeed in a capitalistic economy. i think obama made the mistake of not making younger americans, and these young millennial more aware of what is necessary to succeed in a competitive economy. he appears, you know, often to be looking for victims here, they are and everywhere and some excuses as to why these individuals are doing better economically speaking. neil: do you think corporations when they get their tax, whether 20%, 22% and i know it's realistically not at the level 35%, the average is more that 27% or so today that they are going to hire people, pay them more. but they going to put it back in their socks? they are free to do whatever they want a non-benefit from doing the latter. what do you think? >> i think if there is no reason

to believe that these companies are going to take the lion's share of the increase in profits that result from tax-cut and increase wages or expand production capabilities. what's important in the tax reform package is a more favorable treatment of capital spending. here i wouldn't be surprised to see a significant pickup by capital spending that helps to drive growth in 2018 and 2019 and eventually this rising capital spending will lead to more jobs and improve the labor project david e. and as productivity grows, we should see faster wage growth. >> we do have a little labor force participation rate. we have a low rate of capacity legalization, so i believe 4%

unemployment rate exaggerates the extent of labor market tightness. after all, wage growth is still quite mild, growing wages by more than 2.5 year-over-year when we have 4% unemployment in the past because of a real tightening of the labor market which is growing by three points i% to 4%. neil: always good talking to you. do any of you remember when the president said that the fbi's reputation was in tatters? the fbi chief had a chance to respond to that. after this. ing for advantages. the smart ones look to fidelity to find them. we give you research and data-visualization tools to help identify potential opportunities. : decisions with fidelity for just $4.95 per online u.s. equity trade. fidelity.

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. neil: all right, minutes away from the white house briefing with sarah sanders, on the administration and reaction to today's developments, including the fbi chief christopher wray on the hill today amid growing questions on the president's credibility. the fbi's reputation in tattered right now.

adam shapiro with the latest on all the back and forth. reporter: neil, that tweet was precipitated by the fact that it was revealed one of the investigators, not only of the clinton e-mail scandal but also of the russia issues, peter strzok reassigned with the fbi and removed by the investigator mr. mueller. but when asked about the president's tweet is the fbi's reputation in tatters. here's how christopher wray the director responded. >> we respond to this tweet by the president, is the fbi's reputation in tatters? >> congressman, there is no shortage of opinions out there. what i can tell you is that the fbi that i see is tens of thousands of agents and analysts and staff working their tails off to keep americans safe from the next terrorist attack, gang violence, child predators, spies from russia, china, north korea and iran.

the fbi that i see is tens of thousands of brave men and women who are working as hard as they can to keep people that they will never know safe from harm. reporter: now the director deflected questions about peter strzok, again, the man reassigned in his role in the clinton e-mail situation, but also about changing the language that director comey, past director comey had once used, this issue of changing gross negligence to different term of extremely careless, to which the director said essentially it's the same thing, if you go a thesaurus. he did say he didn't want to interfere with the inspector general's investigation of what transpired. strongly defending the thousands at the fbi. neil: i'm going to go to the thesaurus and see if he's right. all right, adam, thank you very much. the white house briefing where no doubt the issues will come

up. meanwhile, talk back and forth about the russia probe bias, republicans feel hillary clinton didn't get nearly the amount of investigatory zeal that the president and his team are getting on all of this now. gregg jarrett on this now. no question it's going to come up, what are you hearing? reporter: looks like peter strzok at the center of effort to exonerate hillary clinton, and he's the one who signed the papers launching the trump-russia investigation, which now has the severe taint of illegitimacy and corruption, very hard for the americans to have confidence in the fbi, the top management of the fbi overseeing the clinton case and now the trump-russia case, as well as robert mueller's special counsel team stacked with democratic donors. in fact, in the case of jeannie wray, for example, she defended the clinton foundation in a

racketeering civil lawsuit case, not once but twice, she should be nowhere near mueller's team, and another should andrew wiseman who wrote the e-mail fawning sally yates for defying president trump's order on the travel ban. neil: one idea that's come up is whether the fbi investigators are biased against the president and not so didn't feel nearly as much zeal when it came to hillary clinton is that donald trump is now president of the united states. the focus should be on not deflecting on them. you say? >> deflecting on who? neil: democrats. >> look, nobody is above the law. that includes hillary clinton. if she violated the law, and looks like there's overwhelming compelling evidence she did violate the espionage act, she should not be exempt simply because she ran for president. i don't get to rob a bank, run for president be and exempt from prosecution. nobody is above the law.

it's fair, especially if there was corruption in that investigation, and indeed obstruction of justice by strzok or james comey that congress needs to get to the bottom of it, and so do the american people. neil: legal minds obviously on that point can disagree. as you know, greg, and they have, back and forth on this, more on politics. where is this going, and i always wonder when these incidents are brought up or whether the fbi is fair, or whether it's zeal or bias is against the president or his team, that they're laying the groundwork to oppose or appeal whatever they can do after a decision brought by bob mueller and his team. what do you think? >> a lot will depend what the inspector general finds. we know he found suspiciously corrupt motives by peter strzok and now looking at 10,000 e-mails he exchanged with lisa page also on the mueller team. she's an fbi lawyer, and i

suspect that when that inspector general report comes out, it will be rather stunning, and will probably merit the department of justice reopening its investigation of the hillary clinton characters and reexamining whether or not the evidence should be presented to a grand jury to decide whether or not to indict. neil: that's never going to happen. do you think that's ever going to happen? >> why would you they? neil: i don't think there's the appetite for it in washington. >> i think there is plenty of appetite across america, again, because nobody is above the law. the statute of limitation says not run on hillary clinton. neil: where is the appetite across america? don't you think the american people are investigated out on all of this stuff? >> it's easy to say that, but the american public does demand responsibility and law enforcement and justice, and you know, you could also say there's no appetite for continuing to investigate president trump because there's

no evidence, not a scintilla of evidence of collusion with the russians during the political campaign. neil: we don't know what's being uncovered. you are quite right, we have no idea. >> right, and we have no idea whether the special counsel will accuse the president of obstruction of justice. as you and i talked before, that requires, under the law, a lie, a threat or bribe, a corrupt purpose. and even comey didn't accuse the president of that. said the president had every constitutional right to dismiss it. neil: when do you think the trump stuff will be resolved, one way or the other? >> it's also a fool's error to predict when the investigation will gone for years. i think there is urgency here. because this is interfering in the president's ability to engage russia in foreign policy, pressing issues. i wrote a column about that. there is concern in the white house that the president can't

meet with putin or pick up the phone and talk to him very much, for fear that the media will cite that as evidence of continuing russian collusion. so i think this needs to be expedited, and one hopes mueller feels that as well. neil: gregg jarrett, thank you very, very much. >> my pleasure. neil: we are waiting for the white house briefing to begin. running a little late. they tend to do that right now, dotting i's, crossing t's on a number of controversial issues coming up. one, we're getting leery about the upcoming winter olympics in south korea. apparently we're not the only country that is. after this.

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. neil: here's sarah. >> attacked at pearl harbor. as the president said in a stirring video, we remember the

lives lost, the families torn from loved ones and the heroes who rose to america's defense. the president will be meeting with members who served at pearl harbor later today, as you all know. also as you are aware, the president will meet later this afternoon with congressional leaders from both parties to discuss the need to fund the government, particularly our military and the department of veterans affairs. the president and the republicans in the house and senate are eager to pass a bill fully funding the federal government and the military. with the threats we are facing, our national security should not be held hostage for irresponsible demands and certainly hope that won't happen. now, with christmas season in full swing, i want to shine a spotlight on some of the incredible stories of generosity and love that show with the christmas spirit and the american spirit are all about. today i'd like to start with a story of st. matthews episcopal church in wheeling, westerning virginia. over a hundred years ago when a young girl tragically died around the christmas season and

family donated money to the church in her honor and asked it be used for the children at christmas. what they may not have realized is the act of kindness would bless countless children for the next century. they continue helping children and families during the christmas season, they usually do it anonymously but word of generosity spread through social media. at the local walmart numerous families will pay for christmas toys they put on layaway and tell there is no need because it's been paid in full. so many acts of generosity and kindness that go unnoticed this christmas season and that's okay. st. matthew's church wasn't looking for credit and neither are so many others. they remind us what the season is all about, that's the greatest gift of all, a savior was born, hopefully we can focus and take time out of our busy schedules to enjoy the christmas season or however you celebrate. with that, i will take your questions.

reporter: i want to ask but the possible government shutdown and the optimism that the president might have he can avert a shut down, and if i could follow up and ask about the california fires and the latest on the white house has on it? >> sure, in terms of the government shutdown, we expect a clean cr to pass with democrat support. that's what we hope will happen. funding the government particularly are military, veterans affairs are always important but particularly now with so many threats that we face globally. this is certainly an important priority for the administration, and we hope something that will be discussed and agreed to later today. jennifer? reporter: on the fires? i'm sorry? >> was there a specific question? reporter: yes, is the white house in coordination with the folks in california in battling that wildfire. is there more money to be made available, especially for the areas near los angeles which are under siege right now by so much devastation? >> absolutely. the administration is staying in regular contact with both

fema and folks at the white house speaking regularly to state and local authorities and making sure we're ready and able to help when needed and when requested by those authorities. jennifer? reporter: why john bolton was here at the white house today? and also on taxes, was a little confused whether the white house would support a 22% corporate tax rate? you had the white house economists talking about saying it would be okay and wouldn't undermine the economy, and later the legislative structure said it needs to be 20, so -- >> our focus is getting the lowest corporate rate possible. 15 is better than 20. 20 better than 22, and 22 is better than what we have. again we're going to continue to push but not going to negotiate that from the podium, and we're committed to getting the lowest corporate rate we can. john bolton, he's a friend of the president, somebody he wanted to visit with. nothing more than that, nothing more than a check-in and a

friendly visit. reporter: sarah, donald trump, jr. refused to talk about his conversations with the president citing attorney-client privilege. would the president release him from any such privilege or allow him to speak to the committee? >> that's a question you would have to ask his attorney. we believe his lawyers had a legitimate reason and basis for not answering the questions but something i would direct you to his attorneys for. reporter: can you explain how it could be attorney-client privilege when neither donald trump, jr. nor president trump are attorneys? >> again, that's something you would have to talk to don jr.'s attorneys with. i don't have the ability to comment. reporter: senator franken, announcing his resignation that, quote, he's aware that there is irony in the fact i'm leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about history of sexual assaults in the oval office and preyed on young girls campaigned for the senate with the full support of his party, end quote. what's the white house response

to that? >> look, the president addressed the comments back during the campaign. we feel strongly that the people of this country addressed that when they elected donald trump to be president, and i've addressed it several times from here and don't have anything new to add. reporter: can you talk more broadly in the differences in the way the two parties are handling these accusations of sexual misconduct? >> i think that some of that would be left to some of the party leadership. i'm not sure if there is a specific question on the differences, but john? reporter: thank you, sarah. have any of the president's counterparts around the world contacted the president, contacted the white house to indicate that they too will follow the president's lead in moving their embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem for acknowledging that jerusalem is the capital of israel? >> i'm not aware of any country's commitment to follow suit on this. reporter: you expect that to happen? you expect that others will follow the president's lead

here? >> i'm not aware of any countries that we anticipate that happening at any point soon. i'm not saying that they aren't, but i'm not aware of them. jordan? reporter: thanks, sarah. last week the president said the u.s. would be opposing additional sanctions on north korea today. do you have an update where that stands? >> yeah, we expect the department of treasury to put out more details hopefully by the end of the week. and we'll keep you posted on that front. jennifer? reporter: thanks, sarah. what is the president's reaction to allies notably the united kingdom to express opposition to his action for recognizing jerusalem? and also did the fact that he kept his promise give him more credibility when negotiating in the middle east? >> certainly, i think one of the abilities to follow through on something you've committed to, as the president has done, but also let's not forget this was something that congress voted on starting in 1995 and

has reaffirmed 10 separate times over 20 years, this something that the president took action on, courageous and bold action, and something that frankly the members of the united states congress have voted on many times before. olivia? reporter: thank you, sarah, you put out a statement under the president's name directing other officials to reach out to saudi arabia and urge them to immediately allow the flow of humanitarians into yemen. two questions about that. why isn't the president working the phones, and the second is, are there consequences for saudi arabia if they don't immediately allow the flow of goods? >> my understanding is the president did bring these up on previous conversations, and that i believe there are actions that are taking place for a port to open and we'll keep you posted of the details are more available. major? reporter: asked you on monday, any consequences if they don't do this? >> we have reason to believe

they're moving in that direction for a port to be opened. major? reporter: when the president became aware that michael flynn lied to the fbi, you refer her to john dowd, john dowd is not engaging on that. that's a noble fact in the building, not a legal matter, not for the attorney to say. can you tell us when the president became aware of that? >> attorneys feel differently and feel it should be answered by them, and i'll encourage them to respond to you. i refer to you john dowd. reporter: why is it a legal question what the president knew and what he knew it? >> i'm going to listen to the attorneys on this one, and john dowd hopefully will follow up on with you. sorry, major, i'm going to keep bouncing. reporter: it's an open question whether the united states will participate in the winter olympics in south korea. is it an open question? is it now in doubt? >> look, that wasn't exactly what the investors said, no official decision has been made

on that, and we'll keep you guys posted as those decisions are made. look, i know the goal is to do so, but that will be a decision made closer to time. i think that's an interagency process, but ultimately the president would certainly weigh in, but again, that's something he would take into account probably a number of the stakeholders that would be involved. reporter: does it involve security? >> absolutely, if we felt that was an issue that come up. reporter: several funding questions, does he want sbs to be authorizeed? >> i haven't had that specific conversation, i know we want to fully fund the government. i don't want to get into any more details. reporter: the bipartisan relationship is coming up in a different atmosphere than the last meeting, he didn't think it was possible because the democrats were so bad on illegal immigrants pouring over the border. i'm wondering has the president changed his mind about that? and also specifically what he was referring to since the

government shutdown? >> the president is very much committed to a strong border and border wall, and i imagine that's discussed -- >> reporter: [inaudible] >> i think we all hope a deal can be reached. we hope the democrats will be willing to put aside partisan politics and fully funding the government. josh? reporter: on the hill today chris wray praised the fbi and said it's the finest law enforcement in the world. the president said it's in tatters and the worst place in history. you can explain that discrepancy? >> look, we don't think there is a discrepancy. we agree with chris wray that fbi field agents are appreciated and respected. the president's issues are with the political leaders in the fbi under former director comey. particularly those that played politics with the hillary clinton e-mail probe and don't see a discrepancy beyond that. blake? sorry, i'm going hop around. reporter: the fbi is in tatters, the fear that could

create ramifications that people won't trust law enforcement? and people will say why should we interact with the fbi when it's in tatters? >> again, the president is referring to the political leaders at the fbi particularly those involved in the hillary clinton probe. blake. reporter: two questions, one on the government shutdown, chuck schumer said on the senate floor, his party controls the senate, the house and the president said a shutdown would fall on his shoulders. shoe that not a reflection of the political realities that republicans control washington at this point? >> look, they may control washington but takes democrats to be engaged in the process, and we hope frankly that democrats will play by the schumer rule and not hold this bill hostage by playing partisan politics and come to the table, help fund our defense department, help fund our military, help fund veterans affairs. john? reporter: at some point daca is going to be brought up, or

potentially be brought up. is the white house willing to make a daca fix with government spending, and if so, when? >> the president said with daca he wants responsible immigration reform, including a border wall and other things that we've laid out in the priorities and the principles, that is something that would be part of the discussion. john? reporter: thank you, sarah. from the podium, secretary mnuchin and gary cohn both assured us that when a final tax reform bill is passed, the alternate minimum tax would disappear immediately. now, of course, recent statements by the president as the conference is about to begins, indicate it might not completely disappear, and not immediately, certainly, is the administration still committed to ending the amt right away? >> look, i don't think our position has changed on that front at all. but at the same time, look, the

conferies were just named. we want to work it through the process. we've laid out the principles, we're committed to those in making sure the bill in the final piece of legislation delivers on that. charlie? reporter: lot of attention on sexual harassment by congress, is the president confident that congress and leaders can police and investigate themselves on this issue? >> i think that we have no reason at this point to see otherwise, and hopefully that process will move forward. halle? reporter: one question, on the podium on taxes, you said to matt on tuesday, if taxes are under audit, he's not going to release them. the 2016 taxes are not under audit. >> i will double check but the president's taxes, no matter who the president is, actually immediately go under audit after being filed. i'll double check. reporter: more broadly on this moment that we find ourselves

in national reckoning when it comes to sexual harassment. a broad 30,000 foot way, does the president believe he has a credible role in leading this conversation and can you speak to the specific steps this white house is taking to make sure the women that work here for a comfortable environment to talk about these things? >> i think that the president treats certainly as a woman myself, i've never felt anything but treated with the highest level of respect and empowered to do my job, that's what i've seen the president do day in and day out since we've been here, and during the campaign, so i think that's a pretty good start and a pretty good example on that front. reporter: having sessions or seminars, are you doing that here? talking about in recent days what people in this work environment can do? >> there are certainly white house policies that we are reminded of and all of us expect each person to live up and to meet those policies and

not cross the line that is not only not legal but not appropriate or not ethical. kristen? reporter: we've seen democrats forcibly call for john conyers resignation, and al franken's resignation today. do republicans and this president risk losing moral authority on this issue, which is a huge issue right now, by endorsing a candidate like roy moore which is now backed by the rnc as well? >> look, i've addressed this in depth. we think the allegations are troubling and ultimately something the people of alabama should decide, steve? reporter: i'm not calling for him to drop out of the race. the president is failing to lead. >> hey, kristen, i'm going move around. reporter: quick question, is he failing to lead. reporter: jerusalem delayed because of concerns expressed by the secretaries of defense and state about security they wanted to get adequate security

in place for u.s. embassies around the world? >> we wanted to make sure we had a thoughtful and responsible process and that the decision and the components of that decision went through the full agency process, and once that was completed, the president took action. steve? reporter: do the palestinians under the impression that the president pulled out of the peace process yesterday based on the jerusalem decisions how do you correct that? did he do that? >> no, in fact, in the president's remarks he said that we are as committed to the peace process as ever, and we want to continue to push forward in those conversations and those discussions and hopefully the ultimate goal of all those party is to reach a peace deal and that's something the united states is very much committed to. one more, david? >> sarah, thank you. given the recent revelations that one prosecutor on robert mueller's team was sending anti-trump texts to a d.o.j. lawyer and another revelation

that another one was congratulating sally yates for refusing to uphold and defend the president's travel ban. chairman goodlatte said the appearance of impropriety would devastate the president's reputation. the question is does the white house believe the fix was in that robert mueller's probe was bias from the beginning? >> look, we are fully cooperating through this process, we're going to continue to do so. as i said a few minutes ago, we certainly felt like some of the political leadership at the fbi was problematic. we're glad that director wray is there. we feel he's going to clean up some of the messes left behind by his predecessor and look forward to this concluding soon and showing what we've been saying all along, nothing to see here and certainly no collusion. the president has an event. just a couple last-minute votes. president has an event here with members of the pearl harbor survivors, and we'll

also have a pool spray at the top of the congressional meeting this afternoon at 3:00. we'll see you guys shortly. neil: all right, interesting development there from sarah sanders at that white house briefing. >> i'll break the rules and come back, i know there were a lot of questions on that. frankly pretty ridiculous questions. president's throat was dry, nothing more than that. he does have a physical scheduled for the first part of next year. the full physical that presidents go through will take place at walter reed and the records will be released by the doctor following that taking place. thank you so much, guys. neil: that was interesting, she was referring to the president's garbled speech at the end of his remarks on jerusalem yesterday. some were worried there might be something physically wrong, sarah saying he had a parched throat and needed water. that's the official white house response on this. continuing resolution to keep the government lights on.

the administration supports, it will last a couple of weeks, no way to run even your home budget but it is what both sides of congress agreed to do. ken langone, the founder of home depot. his read at 4:00 p.m. today. trish regan, trish: you have been listening to white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders on a pretty busy day. we have jet showdown on capitol hill. al franken resigning as senator and a raging wildfire in the los angeles area. stocks continue in the green. s&p trading up nine. nasdaq composite up 37. i'm trish regan. welcome, everyone to "the intelligence report." president trump will meet with congressional leaders in about an hour from now as he looks to work with democrats to keep the government funded. congress is expected to pass the temporary solution to k