my kids, they say they are not going to get anything. you've got to give them something. maybe a copy of my book "billionaire at the barricades." great gift, stocking stuffer. reach me on twitter and facebook. remember to vote for who the animatronics trump looks like. lloyd bridges is my vote. shannon bream is up next with a fantastic show. >> shannon: the people who made that thing, the animatronic thing, they might be on the naughty list. there needs to be some work on that. here's what's coming up on our show tonight. tax reform by christmas. >> yeas are 227. the conference report is of -- adopted. >> shannon: republicans

drowning out protesters as the tax overhaul gets closer to the president's desk. chad pergram is following the latest on capitol hill. we'll get expert analysis from chris stirewalt on what tax reform means for the trump agenda and the country. the fbi's number two gets a closed-door grilling on capitol hill. ed henry investigates what happened today with andrew mccabe as g.o.p. criticism of him mounts. a stern warning to the world before the united nations weighs in on the trump administration's jerusalem move. it won't be forgotten. former u.s. ambassador to the u.n. john bolton is here to preview thursday's showdown at the u.n. hello and welcome to "fox news @ night." i am shannon bream in washington. new tonight on tax reform, the united states and it is moments away from a vote that many even in president trump's own party

often doubted what happened by christmas. yet here we are in the final moments of a debate on tax sociy

checks. >> not going to happen. neither side wants to do that. >> shannon: a couple obstacles in the way. republican senators rand paul and mike lee are warning that their support for any short-term spending bill to keep the government open will not come without strings attached. they are against permanent reauthorization of that controversial government surveillance program known as the foreign intelligence surveillance act. they wanted to open up for debate before they will agree that to this interim funding bill. we will talk more about it coming up. the fbi second in command facing hours of questions from the house intelligence committee. deputy director andrew mccabe testified behind closed doors on capitol hill amid claims for

republicans of bias in the russia and hillary clinton email investigation. chief national correspondent ed henry is following it. it's been a long day for mccabe. >> 7.5 hours behind closed doors to be precise. that's a lot longer than anyone in either party expected. also noteworthy that when mccabe was done testifying, he went out sort of a back staircase to avoid reporters. make sure we weren't pressing him for information about what went on. we are still pressing for details but the bottom line is this long testimony behind closed doors shows that the heat is really being turned up the terms of the investigation of the investigators, particularly at republicans wanting to know more on the house intelligence committee about those anti-trump text messages going back and forth between fbi officials, particularly the one text that talked about a "insurance policy in case donald trump was elected

president," didn't mean fbi officials were conspiring to investigate him? and are mccabe is critical to answering these questions. he is at the center of the storm, the number two official at the fbi. he started facing scrutiny last year when it was revealed his wife, while running for office in the state of virginia, had received half a million dollars in campaign money from a pack controlled by terry mcauliffe, governor of virginia and a very close ally of bill and hillary clinton. that came, when we heard about that a few months after mccabe, as deputy to james comey, then the fbi director, was overseeing the fbi investigation of course into hillary clinton's private email server. the committee also pressing for answers about what role, if any, mccabe had in terms of that dossier, the anti-trump dossier that was paid for by the democratic national committee and the clinton campaign. republicans believe that led to the surveillance of at least one trump official.

on the russia probe, the text messages back and forth that i mentioned, looking at some of them. peter strzok, the fbi official, one saying "i want to believe the path you throughout for consideration in andy's office, there's no way he gets elected. but i'm afraid we can't take that risk. it's like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before your 40." the question tonight, whether that was suggesting some sort of conspiracy among fbi officials republicans tonight are threatening that if mccabe, between this private testimony tonight and other questions the republicans have, if they are not answered, they are talking about contempt of congress charged against mccabe, other fbi and justice officials. >> there are a ton of questions, including the one you made reference to. the one between agent strzok and

lisa page. we need to make sure that was andrew mccabe. if they were coming up with a "insurance policy" in case donald trump won, it's devastating. >> fox has obtained a letter that ron johnson sent to the general services administration to get more answers about the tens of thousands of emails the government agency turned over to special counsel robert mueller peter johnson writing apart "these allegations raise concerns that gsa personnel disregarded federal statutes governing presidential transitions, there by potentially undermining the framework for future presidential transitions." you will remember that a trump transition lawyer or who we can charge that robert mueller's office broke the law by getting those emails. mueller's office is pushed back, saying they obtained emails properly. the bottom line, this is far from last we've heard about it. it is raising questions about mueller's independence. >> shannon: new questions every day. we will await the answers.

ed henry, thanks so much. we are following vents on capitol hill minute-by-minute. we're waiting on boats on the tax bill that are expected to begin around 11:30, maybe 11:45. stick around. we're going to take you there live. plus the battle among democrats to leave president trump's impeachment. are they getting ahead of themselves pushing mark from nfl cheerleader to running a franchise. that story when we come

>> shannon: house democrats set to vote by secret ballot on who will replace john conyers. congressman conyers resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment. the leading contenders to take a spot on judiciary are a democrat so lofgren and jerry nadler of new york. as one report puts it, it's turned into a battle over who would lead the president possible impeachment. chris plante joins us. you are both sort of chomping at the bit. good to see you. i want to start with something that a guest, richard painter had to say. he says "i think we are in danger.

our democracy is in danger. the fact that the man who is the commander in chief of our military engaged in obstruction of justice and other crimes. also psychologically deranged." chris, is it time for the i word? >> it is so around the bend, over the top. this man is a republican reportedly. he's obviously a never trump. the rhetoric every day because president trump mentally unstable. they make up outrageous fantasies. then they spread them around. is it time to bring up the i word? they have been talking about impeachment since before he was elected. since before he was sworn into office. there are certain news organizations, you can't really call them that, banging this drum day in and day out. it's absurd, laughable. it's -- they have nothing affirmative to contribute so they yell impeachment and they get people all stirred up. this is their strategy apparently for trying to win the

house next year. >> shannon: not all democrats think this is a good idea. i think the latest polling show somewhere like 41% of people think the idea of impeachment is not a good idea. 54% the gators -- excuse me, the opposite. 41% say go ahead. 54% say it's not a good idea. senator joe manchin is one who spoke out and said it's not a good idea. not something we should be wasting time. democrats shouldn't be talking about it, but they are. richard command part that's because we have these two jockeying for the ranking position. "should've come to that, i would hope i would have the experience to cope with that in a very orderly and fair and informed manner." congressman jerry nadler, the one wants to take this process "as our constitutional expert and what has demonstrated leadership on impeachment and the fostering 90s, nadler is our strongest member to lead a potential impeachment." supposedly on a leaflet. what you make of it, richard?

>> it is called enterococcus politics. the house caucus, and the democratic caucus, they are drawn to their polls. this is what they do. i'm not a democrat that speaks of impeachment. i figured griddle of the mueller investigation run its course and what comes out with. see if the mueller investigation leads to an impeachment. i don't know if it will or won' won't. that being said, internal democratic politics and we'll see what happens. will have to let the mueller investigation take its course. >> shannon: chris, it does sound like they are using the some sort of in campaign speeches. >> does anybody remember the phrase sterman during -- it's noise for the stake's stick of noise. it's at politics has sunk this

low in washington but this is where we are. the democrats, they were invited to participate in text form. they chose not to. >> weights, wait, wait. hold on. hold on. >> shannon: okay. >> this is about impeachment. joe manchin, he cited in an interview the six times he reached out to work on tax reform in the white house rebuffed him. >> there are republican members of congress. president trump invited the democrat leadership to the white house on more than one occasion. >> how do you respond to the fact that joe manchin, the senator from west virginia, was rebuffed by the white house. >> there are republican members of the house and senate will bent on facing they have attempted to bring the democrats into the fold. >> how do you explain the fact that joe manchin was rebuffed by the white house? the one that's one

senator saying it didn't work out. >> he is not in leadership. >> shannon: we know there were conversations and members from both sides of the aisle for trying to work together. with the white house was involved, they were trying to get something done. it doesn't look like most of this is going to end up being anything but a partisan vote. we've seen in the past from major things that affect the economy. chris and richard, great to see both of you tonight. follow-up on mondays are part of the major alleging the obama administration sabotaged its own effort to stop the hezbollah terror group from turning profits on illegal drugs. we are going to hear from the investigative reporter behind that story.

>> shannon: from the sidelines to the front office, amid scandal. trace gallagher joins us with the latest twist in the

harassment scandal sweeping the nation. >> in the wake of the carolina panthers owner jerry richardson facing incredible allegations of sexual harassment, the team will be sold at seasons end and tina becker will take over as chief operating officer which puts her not only in charge of the team's day-to-day operations but also among the nfl's highest ranking executives. by all accounts, her appointment has zero to do with political correctness and everything to do with the fact that she is widely respected for knowing almost every facet of the panthers organization. she started out coordinating the teams cheerleading squad, moved up to director of entertainment, then to executive director. she worked directly with nfl owners and the league itself. tina becker says despite the clear boost, these have been some of the most difficult days of her 19 years with the team. "our team on the field is performing at a very high level, and i believe it's bound for the super bowl. my immediate focus will be to ensure the corporate side of the

organization performs at the same high level while addressing the real concerns that have been raised in recent days." despite his intention to sell the team, we are told the allegations against jerry richardson will be fully investigated. >> shannon: also we are hearing in mcallen is getting some heat for controversial comments. >> indeed. in fairness, we should note he's pretty adamant when he says he hopes the improper behavior will be eradicated and people need to be called out even though it's difficult for victims to do. then he said women were partly to blame for the sex scandal and talked about pictures young actresses used to give a director friend of his. watch. >> some of them, i think these were the initials, at the bottom of the photograph, d.r.r.

directors writes respected. in other words, if you give me a job, you can have sex with me. >> mcallen also called out to kevin spacey coming out as gay, saying it's reprehensible because it links alleged underage sex . with sexuality. >> shannon: will be tough talk sway the global body? john bolton joins us. where are doctors battling police? we will tell you next. [lance] monica, it is absolute chaos out here! gale force winds, accumulations up to 8 inches...

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>> shannon: the united nations general assembly will hold a rare emergency session this week at the request of arab and muslim states to discuss president trump's statements regarding jerusalem. the u.s. vetoed a resolution condemning president trump's vision to recognize jerusalem as the capital. >> it won't be forgotten. it is one more example of the united nations doing more harm

than good in addressing the israeli-palestinian conflict. >> shannon: ambassador nikki haley tweeting "at the u.n., we are always has to do more and give more, so when we make a decision of the will of the neck and people about where to locate our embassy, we don't expect those we've helped to target us." thursday there will be a vote criticizing the choice. the u.s. will be taking names. fox news contributor and former ambassador to the u.n. john bolton joins us. why do they hate israel so much apparently at the u.n.? >> the anti-semitism is rampant at the u.n., has been for a long time. even in the bush 41 administration after we repealed the general assembly resolution from 1975 that he equated zionism with racism, basically trying to delegitimize the state of israel, the anti-semitism continued. that's what you see here. this is dan at the general simile. everybody wants to get home from vacation.

they are in a flurry of activity. the good news is it's all a big charade. this is theater. theater of the absurd, many would say. i think the vote on thursdays likely to be roughly 180-2 against this and it won't make the slightest bit of difference. >> shannon: here's what that palestinian ambassador has said. >> translator: with his veto, the united states has missed an opportunity to correct its illegal decision with regard to jerusalem and has persisted in its historic center. >> shannon: legal and historic sin. it's not like it's going to make him take it back or change his mind. >> not at all. this notion that we put our embassy in what is patently the capital city of israel on territory that even the palestinians have never said should be part of a palestinian

state, that somehow that's illegal, it's only if you are an international law expert can you believe things like that. i think what they are missing in new york, in the reaction to the security council veto and after the vote in a couple days and the general assembly, there will be a counteraction in the united states. i think the trump administration now could quite easily say let's take this year and budget out and look at it again. we pay 22%. most americans don't realize this. 22% of most u.n. agency budgets. 25% or more in terms of u.n. peacekeeping. assessed contributions. we don't make that up. we get a budget from the u.n. agency and we get to write a check for 22%. i'm not sure i would count on those checks coming after this charade on thursday. >> shannon: i don't know that i would test this president on that issue. i want to get your reaction about missiles coming into saudi arabia from yemen.

here's what ambassador haley said today. >> there were reports this morning that this be 26 militants in yemen have fired it another missile into saudi arabia. according to the houthis themselves, targeted at a meeting of saudi leaders in an area crowded with government offices. while we don't yet have sufficient insight into this particular attack, it bears all the hallmarks of previous attacks using iranian provided weapons. >> shannon: more iran in the midst of the cast. >> the houthi are surrogates for iran and people should look at a map. yemen is the backdoor to saudi arabia. the other oil-producing monarchies. this is another effort by iran to destabilize the middle east. as they approach a nuclear weapons capability which their friends and north korea are rapidly approaching as well. with the defeat of the isis caliphate in syria and iraq, iran now has a direct arc straight through iraq, syria,

hezbollah, lebanon to the mediterranean. there is no wonder the saudis and others are very worried about iran being in their rear and yemen as well. the middle east and north africa has been descending into chaos from us of the last eight years under obama. this is another piece of evidence and i think it's why the president's national security strategy which he brought out yesterday shows it's a very different view of how american interests in this region play out. i think that's what nikki haley's speech reflects. >> shannon: against the backdrop of another deadline for the president to decide about certification of the iran nuclear deal. >> he should take the deal entirely. create a new reality and move on. >> shannon: always great to see you. medical students and doctors firing slingshots of police in bolivia. officers responded with tear gates. students and doctors protesting a new law stiffening malpractic

malpractice. activists protesting near damascus. the campaign is ended bringing attention to the governments each. british police sending a bomb squad to a house. officers carrying out raids and resting for men on suspicion of plotting terrorism. the threat level for britain is severe, indicating an attack is considered highly likely. you romans -- italian for threadbare. the christmas tree is shedding its needles. they are announcing an investigation. the christmas tree came at a cost of $60,000.

will try to keep you updated. more coming up as we keep an eye on capitol hill. it all happened in secret, political reporting the obama administration's justice and state departments deliberately undercut our efforts to bring down a billion-dollar drug cartel linked to hezbollah. how members of the former administration are pushing back. the political reporter broke the story dresses live. it's a small finger...a worm! like, a dagger? a tiny sword? bread...breadstick? a matchstick! a lamppost! coin slot! no? uhhh... 10 seconds. a stick! a walking stick! eiffel tower, mount kilimanjaro! (ding) time! sorry, it's a tandem bicycle. what? what?! as long as sloths are slow, you can count on geico saving folks money. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

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.. >> shannon: follow-up on the report about publication alleging the obama administration they have sabotaged government investigators to stop the hezbollah terror group from turning profits on illegal drug drugs. politico alleges it was about the iranian nuclear deal. joining us now josh meyer. great to see you. let's walk it through. how in the world is this connect, these prongs of investigation happening here, to a connection with the iran nuclear deal. >> it's a bit convoluted. the short version is hezbollah

is a proxy of the iran government, especially the idea, the military wing of hezbollah. the federal investigators were watching and gathering evidence of hezbollah transforming itself from a political power and a terrorist organization to one that was trafficking in drugs and other criminal conspiracies to make hundreds of millions of dollars. the theory was that they documented it, they were doing it to raise money to help rebuild after the israel war and help in expansion they were doing globally. they gathered evidence, designated a couple dozen facilitators as people connected to the conspiracy but when they tried to delve deeply they got shot down. >> shannon: from what i understand there were problems at the state department, justice department, the dea was involved. the administration was not especially helpful. >> i wouldn't characterize it as one grand conspiracy.

there's people on twitter that would like to reduce this to that. there was a series of actions, some taken specifically, intentionally, some taken more part of a broader stoop. other actions were things weren't supportive and not approved. over the eight years of the obama administration you had potentially dozens of criminal cases that languished. people were transferred. efforts to create a rico prosecution were not supported. we look at it, there's at least seven or eight major players they allege were of this conspiracy out there operating with impunity around the world. >> shannon: is the idea that they were not pursued because the administration was worried it would potentially blow up delicate negotiations over the nuclear deal with iran? >> i wouldn't say they weren't pursued because of it but this is the fallout.

i interviewed many thousands of people. their policy of reproach met with iran in their effort to get the nuclear deal created a political climate where the result was a derailment of the policy. some efforts were intentional. i think some are not and i would love to see a full accounting of what happened. >> shannon: we know there are a couple g.o.p. members asking for that. i want to give you a couple critics come to give you chance to respond. marie harf, who used to be with the state department. >> until politico wrote this piece, i never even heard of this program. the politico story, this narrative is just false. there is no evidence in the story to back up their allegations. they quote a couple low-level ideological sources who clearly don't like the iran deal. >> shannon: no evidence, low-level sources. then we hear from the nsc spokesperson. he said "there are many

reasonable critiques of obama's foreign policy. the idea that he was soft on hezbollah is not one of them. this story is so manufactured out of thin air that's hard to push back except to say it's a figment of the imagination of two very flawed forces." >> right, a lot of these people have similar themes to their critiques. i couldn't resist tweeting back to him and saying "why don't you push back? let's see some specifics." i am a fan of marie. she was at a different level for the state department, she was a spokesperson. to say the people i quoted were low-level people is sort of ridiculous. they lead the task force. they were not ideologues. they are not flawed. i don't know what she's talking about. these were the people, a pentagon person, one was a dea person. i also talked to many many dozens of other people to get ground troops and see what their allegations were held up to the light of day. this is not a story in 14,000 words where i was taking a spin

from people. months of meticulous reporting to documented, talking to people outside the administration. i challenge people to let me know what the specifics are they think aren't true. >> shannon: it is in-depth. i suggest people read it. we will see if congress gets involved. josh meyer, thanks. voting starting soon. we will take you back to the senate. this is on the tax bill you been waiting for. waiting for. we will take you there before i had the shooting, burning, of diabetic nerve pain, these feet... loved every step of fatherhood... and made old cars good as new. but i couldn't bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. so i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions, suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worse depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior, swelling, trouble breathing,

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>> increasing the wealth of the very wealthy, sending billions of dollars overseas to overseas investors. that is what is happening already. corporation after corporation has said, with this new money,

we will do even more. ultimately -- >> shannon: you are listening and live at the senate floor, that is senate minority leader chuck schumer. we expect them to vote any moment. the senior producer is there tracking the progress. all of this as the threat of a government shutdown. chad kim i want to ask you about that. it looks like the senate bill will get across the finish line. but by friday, they have to come up with a funding package and i know that there are some real differences between the house and senate, military spending and other things. do they get it done by midnight friday? >> is going to be very hard. what they have to do in the house of representatives, the house will approve a bill tomorrow which will fund all sections of the federal government for just a couple of weeks until january 19th. they will fund the pentagon until the end of the fiscal yea fiscal year. that's not going to float in the senate because they say, why are

you just handling the pentagon and not everything else? additionally, it would bolster pentagon spending. you might remember that we have the sequence three student caps, the budgetary caps that harness military spending. they would throw those out of the water. the senators will vote for that. the senate will probably take their bill, we have been hearing about changing some health care provisions in the bill. cost sharing reduction. you might remember that the president canceled those in october. this is something that susan collins has pushed for, patty murray, the democratic senator from washington state has pushed for, and send it back to the house. i talked to mark meadows, the chair of the house freedom caucus earlier today, he says he doesn't think there will be a majority of the majority in the house to pass that. that's a problem. there is a perversion called the hyde amendment, named after the the late congressman henry hyde, banning federal money going toward abortion. it even if that provision is in there, mark meadows suggested that would be a problem for

house republicans. they get into ping-pong in the house and was headed for the house starts with the bill, they ping it over to the senate, they had senate changes, they pong it back. the problem is, they don't have a lot of runway. if you are going to avoid a government shutdown by 11:59 friday night, especially at christmas time, they may as well just tie some thick antlers to your dog and take them down the mountain toward hooverville. people will start on the government like the grinch at christmas or something like. >> shannon: we always appreciate you. we will see you then, if necessary. in the meantime, what you are watching now live is again the senate floor as they get ready to vote on the tax bill that will go to the senate, has to go back to the house for a little cleanup before that tax bill gets done. it will be the first major legislative achievement for the trump administration, something they have fought hard for. use of the speaker of the house, paul ryan, eliciting a lot of excitement. it is something the

administration needs and was promised to the american people. we'll see if they get that done and we'll watch all my government funding. in the meantime, most-watched, most trusted, most grateful you spent the evening >> vis are 51, the names are 48, tax cuts and jobs act is passed. >> after eight years of slow growth and underperformance america is ready to take off. >> the american people will remember this. heather: andrew mccabe wrapped up with 71/2 hours behind closed doors. >> emergency brake was automatically activated after the accident was occurring rather than being initiated by