>> shannon: first lady melania trump spreading some holiday cheer, taking part in the toys for tots toy drive. said the season is about family and >> not just political opinions, this is disgusting unaccountable by. >> breaking news, if congress sends me a bill before christmas -- americans will see lower taxes and bigger paychecks beginning in february. >> anderson cooper had explaining to do today. you endorsed him, pathetic loser. ♪

>> butyl shot from new york city. light snow falling covering the christmas ball, decorations across from rockefeller center, good morning to you. you are watching "fox and friends" first on thursday morning, almost made it to the end of the weekend. let's get straight to that top story. the man overseeing the investigation into donald trump fiercely defending robert mueller despite tons of tests showing blatant anti-trump bias from inside mueller's team. todd pyro has new details. >> the public trust is gone, that is the message from republican members of congress to the man in charge of the man investigating donald trump. trump hating text messages raising questions about the

political motivations of the probe but out of 10,000 texts it is a single one that dominated rob rosenstein's hearing, since august 2016 former fbi agent peter strzok to his lover and lawyer lisa page i want to believe the path you throughout the consideration in andy's off is that there is no way he gets elected but i'm afraid we can't take that risk. the problem with that republicans say that speaks to a possible government conspiracy. >> this guy thought he was super agent james bond at the fbi. >> rosenstein wrote about another exchange, strzok said just went to a southern walmart. i could smell the trump support, page texting back out to lunch with redacted, we both hate everyone and everything, just ripping on the hot mess that is

our country, strzok responding it is scary real down here. >> if you have those walmart shopping trump voters peter strzok so derided in his text messages how do they react to that, do they have confidence in the fbi and the part of justice? >> we have internal affairs officers who will get to the bottom of that. >> the messages began in summer of 2015 not after strzok led the private email server probands continued while the presidential race was in full swing. >> these text messages prove what we all suspected, high-ranking fbi officials involved in the clinton investigation were personally invested in the outcome of the election. >> this is disgusting unaccountable bias and there is no way that could not affect the person's work. >> congressman jim jordan demanding a second special

counsel investigate whether strzok's political beliefs affect the decisions at the doj, this gets deeper and deeper. >> outside the dc bubble when you shop at walmart you smell different, you smell like a hard-working american. appreciate it, more on this, jim jordan on the story last night continuing to push for accountability from peter strzok. >> he needs to be in front of the unitary committee and we need to bring him in and put him in the same place and ask him questions so the american people can see what this guy was up to blues this guy who thought he was the super agent diet the fbi needs to be there answering questions. we talked about subpoenaing him, lisa page, they need to be subpoenas and brought before the

committee answering questions we are asking. jillian: is the rocks by deadly rides bracing for more unrest today. police planning to block streets as massive crowds turn out for the court hearing of james fields junior accused of plowing his car into a crowd of protesters at a white nationalist rally in august, have her hire was killed, charged with second-degree murder. three other men charged in connection with the riot will be in court. new york city terrorists wanted to be a suicide bomber could face life in prison. akayed ullah, chain migrant from bangladesh making his first court appearance by video from his hospital bed, a judge denied him bail, he wanted to kill as many people as possible in the name of isis when he detonated a pipe bomb in a subway passage in times square. he ended up being the only one

seriously injured. donald trump making a final push to get tax reform wrapped up by christmas promising bigger paychecks for american workers, griff jenkins live in washington dc with what is happening behind the scenes. >> the nation's tax system becomes imminent, and a statement put out by the revenue service. >> of congress sends me a bill before christmas, the irs, this is breaking news, has just confirmed that americans will see lower taxes and bigger paychecks beginning in february. >> they reached an agreement in

principle, major take aways,/is the corporate rate of 21% instead of 20% as originally planned, the top individual rig to 27%, state and local at $10,000. and satisfying the high tax states like new york, new jersey and california who were most affected and repeal the obamacare individual mandate. it is due out tomorrow, don't expect democrats to support it. >> the ultimate betrayal of the middle class. it doesn't give americans the tax-cut they deserve now and it takes away medicare and social

security later. >> it is never done until it is done but it appears the house and senate planned to vote on this early next week and try to reach the president's desk. >> you get call under the tree, or against it. thank you so much, have a great day. donald trump calling doug jones to congratulate him on his alabama senate upset inviting him to the white house but one person still hasn't called the senator elect, opponent roy moore who is still refusing to concede. >> we have not received the final count including military and provisional ballots. this has been a very close race and we are awaiting certification by the secretary of state. >> republicans will not stall or tax reform vote for jones despite pleas from democrats. the secretary of state severely as the election can be finalized

is the day after christmas, that is when donald trump hopes to have the bill signed. minnesota governor disgraced senator out frank and even though he has not resigned. gina smith stepping on the national stage to finish out frank and's term but it is not clear when she will take over. franken announced he would resign after sexual misconduct allegations. every fallen hero in arlington national cemetery will be honored thanks to generous viewers like you. placing a wreath on every grave totaling over million. to never forget the price of freedom. >> it is time to stand up to stand for what is not forgotten

and continue the legacy. >> volunteers will lay the wreath and ceremony at 1200 locations. 11 days until christmas, this age old question is up for debate. >> what is christmas really about? >> a new poll shows a growing number of americans don't see christmas as a religious holiday. in 2013, 59 prison celebrated with religious traditions but this year dropped to 55%. many americans forgetting the meaning of christmas? let us know what you think on twitter and instagram to let us

know. 10 minutes after the top of the hour deputy attorney general standing strong behind the mueller investigation despite evidence of anti-trump bias, the president of judicial watch was key in getting those text messages to the surface and joins us live up next. >> talked about your dad's courage, not about illness, but about his courage. >> an emotional moment between megan mccain and joe biden as news is breaking on her dad, senator john mccain. first, rudolph was racist, now the pc police are going after another classic christmas carol. find out about that. ♪

>> this is unbelievable and i'm here to tell you the public

trust in this whole thing is gone. you are in charge, you could disband the mueller special prosecutor and do what we called for, appoint a second special counsel to look into this, look into peter strzok and everything else we have learned. >> deputy attorney general rod rosenstein grilled on capitol hill, and calls for an investigation into the investigators growing louder by the minute, is it time, thank you for joining us this morning. i know you were on late with a flashlight on fox. i want to get straight to the segment because we have limited time. to continue on what jim jordan was saying in the back and forth that went on in the hearing, reference to bruce or, here is what he had to say.

>> you guys paid christopher steele at the same time democrats -- or if you took the dossier to the fisa court and used that as the basis to get warrants, are you concerned this is what americans are believing, that the comey fbi and obama justice department worked with one campaign to go after the other campaign. >> bruce or, his wife, nelly, paid by fusion gps for this dossier so was there collusion between the doj and the fbi? >> there was collusion between the fbi, the doj and the dossier fusion gps and hillary clinton, democratic national committee, all designed as the congressman suggests to target donald trump and the question is who paid who and when and what? those are real questions that

need to be answered, the dossier looks to be the basis for warrants used to spy on the trump team and now being pursued by robert mueller. i would put a pause on the mueller investigation in till we figure out what is going on. heather: when you say put a pause should another special counsel be appointed? >> we need an independent analysis, the collusion we have to be concerned about is the collusion we talked about which is justice department, fbi under president obama working with hillary clinton's campaign to spy on the incoming president, and you have number 2 official of the fbi, evidently having a

meeting about the campaign and walking away from that meeting having an idea about an insurance policy -- >> what do you think that text meant. the text went along the lines of the insurance policy. what do you think that was? >> it wasn't a geico policy, the top fbi special agents responsible for counterintelligence, you can bet he was involved in the warrant and was involved in the hillary clinton investigation, the justice department and fbi, rod rosenstein is testifying to wait for the ig report but mueller going forward indicting, getting please deals based on what? corrupt acts from the obama administration that continued into the trump administration. heather: part of the hearing

yesterday went one by one of all the democratic donors that mueller has appointed to his team and when he finished doing that he said this, whether or not rosen's time could look them in the eye, we have that. >> how with a straight face can you say this group of democrat partisans are unbiased and will give donald trump a fair shake. >> we recognize their political opinions, it is our responsibility to make sure those opinions do not influence their actions. i believe director mueller understands that and is running the office appropriate recognizing people have political views but ensuring they are not have affecting how they conduct themselves. >> why appoint them to begin with if you not only do they donate but their wives are members of hillary's team.

>> andrew wiseman whose email we obtained last week was sending emails to sally yates, acting attorney general, anti-trump or, hillary clinton's campaign election night, number 2 at them mueller justice department. if this is correct then the attorney general shouldn't have recused himself. he could have kept politics out of his job. it is the appearance issue. isn't it interesting, it only works to keep someone like sessions away from doing his job and not these partisan democrats. we look at the hires mueller made. as best we can tell there are no registered republicans, 10 registered democrats. heather: we have run out of time. let us know what is up next because you are always ahead of it and none of this would be happening without judicial watch. thank you for joining us, we will be right back, stay with us.

>> anderson cooper at the center of a major controversy thanks to a colorfully worded tweet about donald trump. this came from his account that cnn says wasn't him, social media not buying it. here with reaction, it wasn't me. >> it wasn't him or was it? social media is calling into question. it all started with a tweet from the president reacting saying the reason i originally endorsed luther strange and his numbers went up mightily is i said roy moore will not be able to win the general election, i was

right. a tweet from anderson cooper's account saying really, you endorsed him, you pathetic loser. that went viral online but cnn is saying anderson cooper did not write that. and a statement he said he left his phone unlocked and unattended at the gym early this morning and someone took the phone and sent the tweet but because of cnn's contentious relationship with the president some are saying the network is lying. one twitter user set i believe he would say something like that. cnn hates the president. i don't know. find it hard to believe he would use the word tool in a tweet so i believe cnn. >> maybe supposed to be a direct message, that tends to get people in trouble. social justice warriors am a jingle bell is racist. of theater history professor

revealed jingle bells was originally performed in blackface, that professor says that racial history of the song has remained hidden behind its local and seasonal affection, blackface and racist origins have been steadily and systematically removed from its history. a lot of folks on social media want to focus on the noncontroversial aspect of the song, for the love of pete, is nothing sacred, that is insane. people tweeting about their failed attempt to make gingerbread houses. >> we have some examples of those fails. one twitter user says i tried to make a gingerbread house and here's another, gingerbread house fail, just add dinosaur. i like that, very creative and lastly, i was going to have the best homemade gingerbread, then it fell and melted. it all tastes good and it is the effort that counts so it is great. have a great day.

the time is 26 minutes after the top of the hour. donald trump hoping to look more like santa claus come christmas. >> americans will see lower taxes and bigger paychecks beginning in february. just two short months from now. >> our next guest says you don't have to wait until the new year, it is already out there. ♪

>> a major breakthrough for tax reform as republican lawmakers reach a deal on the massive overhaul promised by donald trump. >> as a candidate i promised we would pass a massive tax cut for the every day working american families who are the backbone and heartbeat of our country. we went to give you, the american people a giant tax cut

for christmas. >> the president saying some americans could start seeing more money in their paychecks in february. joining me to explain how possible that really is is economist peter morici, thank you for joining us, always love having you with us so let's take a look at some of the agreements between the house and senate versions that were reached yesterday cut the corporate tax rate to 21% and the individual rate of 37%, $10,000 for the salt, eliminate the individual mandate, some of which we already heard about, the house version, senate version, what do you think? >> on the whole they are reasonable compromises between the two bills, we will get a reduction in the corporate tax rate that you give a big boost to investing in the united states with our taxes are much higher than in europe and this will get them into alignment. it is a significant it has the

chinese worried and making adjustments of their own in anticipation. the lower personal income tax rate is sorely needed because a lot of small businesses don't pay that rate and even with some of the pass-through provisions because of the payout, that is important and important for people in the northeast will have limitations on state and local property tax deductions. >> can i ask about corporate tax rates, i was listening to west virginia, mention is usually a democrat that can come over to the republican side, he is an easy crossover but he has problems specifically with the corporate tax rate and wondering why can't we have at 25%, more of a compromise and see how it goes for three years and as plans? >> temporary tax cuts on the corporate side are not very effective because as you know being in the broadcast business

investments in a network or steel mill or what have you are long-term, you have to know what your taxes are going to be over it in a 20 year period to make good investment decisions. our taxes are right now some of the highest in the world, sweden has a lower corporate tax rate than we do. as a consequence we are going to 20%, hardly enough, 21, 25 just isn't enough, doesn't get the job done, won't have the salutary effect on corporate investment that we need to have happen but he is looking for an experience. >> he seems to be willing to compromise, what about the top individual income tax comparison, the house had it at 39.6, they finally came up with 37%. we have been through two basic cycles of tax cuts and reform and so forth over the last two generations, the reagan cuts we

had big cuts, lowered the rates, compressed the structure and clinton raised the individual rates to 39.6%. george w. bush cut them again and barack obama restored the top corporate rate and added some other wrinkles in the tax code that mean an awful lot of people including one college professor, at that level along with the estate tax discouraging mature americans from working more. in my situation i pay more than 50% of marginal income in taxes. a lot of that money gets baked for my retirement and if i die before 85 it goes to my children, why work? with personal tax rates that are so high it discourages small business people like me from

investing and working. >> it appears to me it is still the main premise is the longer you work the harder you work the more you make, the more you are taxed and that happens with this as well. >> the point is how much more are you text, what is the marginal rate, the disincentive, 37% is too high. there simply wasn't enough money in this tax cut to do these reforms and bring rates down enough. this is half a loaf. >> half a loaf for christmas but at least that is not a bag of call. >> it is not a bag of coal and not a barack obama empty plate. >> we always enjoy having you make it down for us. see what happens next week. leaders of 57 islamic nations joining forces against donald trump and israel declaring his

jerusalem decision, quote, nolan forward. the organization of islamic cooperation holding an emergency summit after the president announced the us will recognize jerusalem as his relapse capital. they called the move a deliberate undermining of all peace efforts. the group is demanding palestinians claim jerusalem. keeping americans safe is the top priority for new homeland security secretary kiersten nelson who gave her first interview with brian kelly. >> what happened, immigration migration situation, homeland security secretary, what is your role in that. >> we need to look at our visa programs and ensure they meet the requirements originally meant to meet, we have a lot of fraud and abuse which decreases the ability of people who need to come also demonstrated one bad apple can cause a lot of problems.

they are lucky there were no fatalities. heather: you can catch that interview today on "fox and friends" starting at 6:00 eastern, stay tuned for that, john mccain missing another day after being admitted to the hospital, being treated in maryland for side effects from his brain cancer treatment, his daughter megan mccain comforted by joe biden on the view. >> your dad took care -- worked with me, became friends with bo, and both talked about your dad's courage, not about illness but about his courage. >> biden's son died from the same type of brain cancer. our hearts go out to megan who worked with us for a wild, our

prayers are with you. melania getting into the giving spirit, helped store toys and make christmas cards with children of military families at the annual marine corps reserve toys for tots charity drive and talks about the american spirit and importance of giving. >> i have seen people from all over our great nation, those who lost everything and i want to challenge people to continue that giving spirit in the new year. >> reporter: toys for tots is collecting 7 million toys this holiday season so help out if you can. 20 minutes until the top of the are, a warning for parents, a bed could catch fire. a recall you need to know about. the top google search of the are hurricane irma with hurricane harvey not far behind. hour victims faring today? the new challenges just

beginning at a challenge for the faithful every year, keeping christ in christmas was are americans forgetting the meaning of the holiday, your comments on that coming up. ♪

heather: a startlingly recall for parents was a major mattress retailer recalling thousands of mattresses warning your baby's mattress, your baby's that can catch fire, that is a major thing. tracy is here with everything you need to know. >> reporter: the dream on the brand and consumer product safety commission is recalling 23,000 of these mattresses for babies or toddlers because they have that fire safety hazard. they were pulled online at amazon, toys "r quote us, and

wayfarer from january 2016 through december 2016. so far no reported incidents which is good news but if you have one of these on your child as a bed check it out and take care of that. >> something on amazon this time of year launching a free same-day shipping for the holidays. >> free same-day or 1-day shipping for prime members but there is a catch. it is from now through december 24th midnight and you do have to spend $35 or more and if you are not a prime member you can take advantage of this, it is a dollars $.99 per item. >> i thought it was already free for prime members. >> it is but this is even quicker. >> 711, the latest big-name to up its delivery game. >> 7-11 becoming more convenient launching a new apps called 7-11 now and you can shop for products from your smartphone, you can schedule to pick the

items up in the store or have them delivered to you, now they're rolling this out in dallas but they have plans to expand next year. >> when you have to have that beef jerky and slurpy right now. the time now is 15 minutes until the top of the hour. déjà vu, must be tired of hearing this. >> has to go, you are fired. >> the former apprentice star now a former aide to the president but she didn't go quietly. the alleged white house tantrum everyone is talking about and military racing to find a fix after pilots say they are being put in danger due to lack of oxygen in the air. a navy fighter pilot following the story since the beginning is here with a major update up next. ♪

>> welcome back. the navy getting some new state-of-the-art jet technology after growing number of pilots report feeling dangerously short of oxygen in the cockpit. leo gabriel with how the pentagon is working to fix the mysterious threat. you have been following this story as a former fighter pilot your self. >> the navy is equipping all their t 45 training jets with systems that monitor the oxygen level of the cockpit. the systems will be installed by february according to mississippi senator roger wicker who served on the armed services committee so any t 45s lacking those modifications are being grounded, the navy developing a new backup oxygen system that will be installed in the future. t 45 crash in october killed an instructor and a student pilot

but it is not known if oxygen deprivation played any role in that incident and while the navy has unaccompanied to review the overall problem has yet to be nailed down. the air force is seen similar issues in their f 35 and t6 trainers and donald trump's $700 billion military spending plan has several provisions to try to get a better handle on this problem including up to $10 million prize for anyone who can get to the bottom of this cause. >> you have covered the story since it began, you were an instructor in a t 45, refused to fly last april. why is the navy just now figuring this out. >> a t 45 instructor pilot refused to fly because of the problem, they went on strike. i went and spoke with the navy's number 2 admiral about this issue and why it has been so hard to fix, listen to what he

had to say. >> the elusive solution is a reflection of how complex the system is by itself so it is not a simple system. it is not one single thing it could be a combination or series of things because the problem. >> i also went to patuxent river, maryland where they are sending systems that have had problems and taking a look at those systems and examining them to try to isolate the problem. it is a very complex problem. these oxygen monitoring systems are a step that will keep pilots more safe. heather: will this make them feel more safe? >> i think it will because that is the issue, when you are flying and have a physiological episode meaning you are not feeling right because you don't have oxygen, having something in the cockpit that gives you an indication and let you know you need to come back in land is important but they want to put backup oxygen system in there so

it will automatically switch over, and the wherewithal to fix it. >> you might not have the wherewithal to make the decision to begin with. thank you so much. the time is 10 minutes until the top of the hour and it is a challenge for the faithful every year keeping christ in christmas so i too many americans forgetting the true meaning of the holiday? your comments next, college campuses taken over by llamas. ♪ ♪ doubletime ♪

>> four month after hurricane irma ravage the caribbean and florida remains number one on google's list of top searches for 2017. with everything taking congress and the trump agenda where do we stand on rebuilding from the catastrophic natural disasters? joining the is risk experts, thank you for joining us. off the top let's take a look, google's top 10 searches leading off, hurricane irma. also hurricane harvey at number 8 and we haven't heard an update as to how people are doing. what can you tell us? >> first and foremost it is an incredibly heartening news story that people are concerned and

searching for these hurricanes, it says a lot about america's character and also interesting to note they are not just searching by name but what can we do to help. they are concerned about it. heather: let's look at the numbers, the natural disasters, 64 hurricane deaths in puerto rico that we know of, $1 billion of fema assistance, 97 flood insurance claims after hurricane harvey, how can people help out. >> a lot to expect with limited resources we have given the amount of natural disasters we have experienced in addition to the hurricanes, 2 dozen wildfires going at the same time, that stretches the resources. individuals and nonprofits, additional stakeholders to play a critical role in relief and recovery so when people are looking to help, 25 million people are still affected and an

ongoing effort, fema troops, the longest continuous relief and recovery effort in fema history so it is critical to be a neighbor and look after your neighbors and change the culture of preparedness so we are more proactive in managing these risks, we know they are going to increase going forward so ultimately we need to change how we view these risks. heather: how can we do that? >> you look at puerto rico, an interesting case study in terms of how to ensure a more energy resilient infrastructure so you see a lot of conversation and strategy now. governor cuomo leading one of the charges with the puerto rico power authority and a report this week in terms of how to ensure energy is going to be more affordable and these are the interesting new engineering solutions being brought in and needs to be spread across america. right now the american civil

society for civil engineering gave american infrastructure a d plus. heather: thank you, very important topic to bring people up to speed. the fema people who are working away from their families. university official, an angry student who disrupts free speech. the director of lgbt q advice at vanderbilt university says so-called burner activism should be celebrated and teachers should, quote, encourage burning strategies for students to get jobs done, teachers should support students even if they disrupt university functions. dogs, bunnies, chicken, squirrels, now llamas.

the university of south florida, uc berkeley, some of the colleges getting llamas on board to help students get through the finals. some experts claim petting animals is actually boost your mood. others argue it doesn't do anything at all. christmas s and two weeks away and according to a new poll of your americans are submitting religiously. have too many americans forgotten the true meaning of christmas, society forgot the meaning of the season, it is becoming more and more about material things. overcommercialized like everything else. charles says those who honor christmas for what it is, a celebration of the birth of jesus christ will continue to do so but many have adopted the word, the world focus, a shopping frenzy. i haven't even begun mind.

hopefully you have. thank you for joining us, we appreciate it, see you tomorrow, goodbye. >> not just political opinions, this is disgusting, unaccountable bias. >> raising concern. >> text message madness, lawmakers grilling rod rosenstein over bias in america's leading judicial body. could this be the end of the bob mueller investigation? jillian: donald trump hoping to look like santa claus come christmas, his promise to make your paycheck bigger. >> one of the most ridiculous media attacks so far but there huckabee sanders firing back. "fox and friends" first continues right now.