>> pete: that is all the time we have here on the incremental tonight. i'm pete hegseth and for laura ingraham. my good friend ed henry is filling in for shannon bream up next. >> i'm used to saying good morning to you. >> pete: i artie messed it up once. you can take it away here. >> ed: good to see you, happy new year almost. here's what we've got on tonight. first, he warned about political tyranny. now he's slamming twitter tirades. >> one of the dangers of the internet is people can have entirely different realities. >> ed: after barry met harry, former obama surrogates joined the attacks tonight on president trump. >> there clearly is a message there for the president. >> ed: so what happened to the white house tradition of not disparaging or successor? then, after apocalyptic warnings about the trump tax cut. >> this is armageddon. >> the left abruptly shifting its tune after voting no, no, no.

no. >> 91% of middle income americans will receive a tax cut. this is not a good thing. >> it is a very good thing. >> ed: are democrats suddenly getting worried that tax cuts will actually be popular and help the economy? and will they know about to make them permanent? a close aide to hillary clinton weighs in life. plus, a republican lawmaker calls for a purge at the fbi. now seems to be backtracking. we will get live reaction from congressman matt gates. and melania trumps christmas tweet gets trolled. why are democrats constantly ripping into her? and he literally wrote the book on first ladies. he will give us the inside scoop. ♪ >> ed: good evening and welcome again to fox news at night. i'm ed henry in washington in for shannon bream all week. new tonight in an unfolding controversy involving president barack obama and president donald trump, the

longtime obama advisor says tonight the former president did indeed take a shot at president trump during an interview with britain's prince prince harry. despite not naming the current president directly in the sit down. what's more, he's accusing the current commander-in-chief of using social media to "divide the american community, part of a plague on the entire conversation on the internet." the attacks mirror those from his former boss, barack obama, who seems to be breaking a recent tradition of former presidents not eviscerating their successors. moran joins us live tonight to lay out the firestorm that is playing out. good to see you. >> in that friendly interview former president obama said how people interact on social media today could splinter society. especially when used by leaders to divide. in a not-so-subtle reference to the current commander in chief's famous twitter use.

>> one of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. they can be just cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases. >> he certainly not the only one. he's the most powerful one right now, but this is something that plagues the entire conversation on the internet, and this is something president obama has been concerned about for a long time. >> the president doesn't seem likely to close his twitter app anytime soon, waiting just keep on tweeting sign when he landed in florida for the christmas holidays. despite the many politicians and pundits who have called on the president to stop. there is an unwritten rule that former presidents typically do not publicly speak ill of their successors. a former president obama did not specifically call out president trump's twitter use, it's not the first time mr. obama has stirred controversy for his veiled jabs. at an event in chicago earlier this month, president obama

raised eyebrows while talking about the need to protect american freedoms like the press. a regular target of president trump's frustration. mr. obama suggesting the u.s. could go the way of germany in the 1930s it citizens grew complacent. saying we have to attend to this -- or else things could fall apart quickly. there's also the question of whether the obama's, were close to prince harry will get an invitation to the big royal wedding in may for the end of president trump will be snubbed by the royal couple. reddish tabloids report some government officials worry not inviting the current president could strain u.s. u.k. relations. the prince is the guest list is still up in the air. >> ed: i suspect after that interview president trump may not want an invite. thanks for giving us all the information. with president trump tearing apart his predecessor's legacy, one government regulation at a time, it's probably not surprising to have real sharp policy differences.

but complaining about tweets? let's take a little deeper with fox news contributor, senior editor at the federalist mollie hemingway and senior politics writer for u.s. news & world report david. david, i want to start with you because on the one hand there is a recent tradition -- george w. bush that i'm getting off the stage, i will not attack barack obama, but you go back in history, eisenhower, truman, they went after each other. there've been many examples. why won't barack obama leave the stage? >> i think first we have to be careful. he never even mentions donald trump. he's been very sparing in his criticisms. >> ed: david axelrod made it clear. >> we all know what he's talking about -- >> ed: why not deliver the punch? >> he's breaking presidents because trump is breaking president. president trump acting on social media is different than what we've ever seen, criticizing the fbi director, criticizing his own attorney general, criticizing hillary clinton

constantly. nicknames -- everybody perhaps for the sky. it president obama feels a responsibility to weigh in, and he's doing it very sparingly. >> ed: it may be president trump a spare game as well. a fair point. if you are barack obama and you want to deliver a punch, why not just say it? the 1930s in germany, he's basically comparing this president to hitler, to the nazis. >> donald trump is more aggressive whereas barack obama is passive-aggressive. he doesn't name him but everybody knows he's talking about him. when he had policy differences with republicans over immigration he said that republicans were scared of widows and 3-year-old orphans. he's fond of attacking, he just did it in a more passive-aggressive fashion and people are not familiar with this more direct, straight on insulting fashion. they both could stand to improve their insult game. >> ed: a couple of other things going on.

first, david, i talked to democratic insiders who say that they think barack obama is one of the only senior democrats who can get inside this president said. that is partly what is going on. he doesn't care what schumer says, chuck and nancy. at one barack obama speaks, this president listens. >> possibly. but i think to her point, he's got such a different demeanor in his approach. at softer touch, the way to get into donald trump's head. usually what we saw it through the campaign is to strike back at trump. he hits back twice as hard. >> ed: he responds to a real punch, not to want a punch. >> obama is never going to go there. he never had that temperament, he will not use the rhetoric that donald trump has. but i think if you talk to republicans -- i did over the last week, they want him to stop tweeting. john kelly, his chief of staff wants them to do less tweeting. the people supportive of him one him to do less. >> ed: 's this is his way, he says that again and again, and he's writing this point, this is how he gets around the

mainstream media unfiltered. molly, i want to ask you, inasmuch as the democrats dismissed the tweeting. for the former president, he could have gone after the tax cut, he could have gone on and on about literally dozens of trump policies. does this suggest that maybe the tweeting gets to the democrats more than they want to admit? >> he's not going after the policy accomplish because it's a rebuttal of what previous eight years -- you can go after tweets because generally people to say i don't like the way you tweets even if they actually do kind of enjoy it and they enjoy following him and they react to everything he says. he can't go after the strong record of tearing down all the buildup and regulation, the supreme court appointment. the huge success of the tax cut at the end of the year. defeating isis. >> ed: thought obama couldn't do. he called isis the jv squad. >> instead of going after policy you go after rhetoric because it's an easy hit. >> ed: does it suggest that even barack obama knows that he succeeded more than the democrats want to admit? >> everybody is having that end

of your realization that as they spent the whole year mocking his twitter he actually had a very successful year. >> more success on policy, but he's losing public opinion. 37% approval rating. one of the lowest in history. >> ed: for a point, but when bernie sanders is evincing the tax that is not so bad. maybe it will get more popular. appreciate you both coming in. meanwhile, lawyers for president trump keep saying they suspect the rush of probe to wind up soon, at least the parts involving the president. but robert mueller may have other ideas. a new report suggesting special counsel may be his probe and now going after the trauma campaign's digital team. that is questions continue to amount about perceived bias of the justice department and the fbi clouding these various investigations so much that one republican lawmaker suggested this week there should be a purge of those law enforcement agencies. >> i would like to see the directors of those agencies purge it and say we've got a lot of great agents, a lot of great lawyers here. those of the people that i want

the american people to see and know the good work being done. not these people were kind of the deep state. >> ed: in response ohio democrats tim ryan issued a statement saying republican calls to undermine these both basic pillars of our democracy are not normal. they aren't just politics, they are downright un-american. being able to independently investigate our own government free from political influence is what makes our great and sets us apart from the rest of the world. for more, let's bring in matt kate spirit republican congressman from florida. good to see you, merry christmas and happy new year almost. >> merry christmas and happy new year to you as well. >> ed: do we need to see a purge of the fbi? >> let me start by saying that tim ryan doesn't have the right to shine for interest in his shoes. ambassador really has worked overseas on behalf of the united states of america and knows full well the good work that -- a great deal of folks are doing at the fbi and department of justice. the problem is in the swamp of washington, d.c., the biggest

alligator is a politicized fbi and department of justice. that's why we are fighting hard to make sure we have a fair and equal opportunity for all sides to be heard and that you don't have this pro-hillary clinton bias, anti-donald trump bias continued to infect our institutions and our systems that all americans should be able to rely on. it's been what i hear the defendant, but you agree with them, you are upset about the fb hide what's going on, but should there be a purge? >> the purge is happening. we just saw andrew mccabe announce his retirement recently. you saw bruce, who was at at te department of justice demoted. you saw peter who sent the horrible antitrust text messages, the same was involved in the exoneration statement for hillary clinton and then got drafted into the mueller pro. he has been demoted and reassigned. time and again you see the senior leadership at these agencies exposed for their bias. that shouldn't in any way impair the good work that folks on the ground are doing each and every day to protect the country. >> ed: that's your view of the

fbi. you just mention robert mueller. i did a moment ago. at yahoo! news as a new report out. here's what they say about the mueller pro. "in just the last few weeks of prosecutors have begun questioning republican national committee staffers about the party digital operation that worked with the trauma campaign to target voters in key swing states. they are seeking to determine if a joint effort was related to the activities of brush controls and bots aimed at influencing the american electorate. according to two sources. bottom line, what does that tell you about the mueller pro? are they going after jared kushner for example, the president's son-in-law who helped run the digital operatio operation? >> here's what we know. the dnc and hillary clinton were paying people to go and pay russians to tell lies about the president. and i guess the best evidence of collusion against republicans is that republicans and russia were all in the same internet at the same time. it's ludicrous. why are we not investigating the real crimes of the real criminals. why are we investigating whether

dnc's activities with diffusion gps company that was employing bruce's wife? that's the real collusion and it's just outrageous to say this bias mueller pro continue. if you were anymore biased we would have to give him credentials for the mainstream media. >> ed: are you calling for robert mueller to be fired when you say spies? >> absolutely. i've been calling for mueller to be fired for months now. over 20 members of the house judiciary committee have been calling for a second special counsel to investigate the clinton foundation and hillary clinton because they are very well may be circumstances where the consequence of those bribes may be undermining american security moving forward. that's why we got to get to the bottom of it and we got to end -- >> ed: i just got 30 seconds. let me unpack that. there have been some republicans even saying if what happened is what you want and the president fires robert mueller we will have a constitutional crisis, you are okay with that? >> the attorney general should fire him. at the president shouldn't have to fire him. >> ed: the attorney general it

recused himself, he is not involved. >> that's the problem. we have an attorney general who was in spectator rather than the leader of the department of justice and that undermines our democracy. there's no legal requirement for them to have recused himself. he needs to step up and be the attorney general fire mueller and appoint a special counsel to evaluate the clinton foundation. >> ed: i suspect he might be fired up in part because of the independence bowl. contractually obligated by shannon bream who has afforded tate's eyes. florida state 42, southern miss 13. it looked like you had a big victory, congratulations. >> absolutely. i know shannon was watching and cheering for them. >> ed: she was, she will be back next week. happy new year. meanwhile after joining in a unanimous u.n. security council book to sanction north korea on friday, russian officials offered to mediate talks between the u.s. and the kim jong un regime. a spokesperson telling us "the united states can communicate directly with north korea through diplomatic channels. while we appreciate these

offers, it is the lack of a credible negotiating partner, not the lack of a mediator that has prevented talks. it is incumbent on them to show they are ready for credible negotiations on denuclearization. meanwhile, a south korean news agency is reporting something dramatic tonight, evidence of chinese tankers selling oil to pyongyang. the south koreans say the illicit trade started after a u.n. security resolution drastically capped north korea's oil imports. this of course raising new questions about whether china is really plain a constructive role in all of this. meanwhile, israel's transportation manager is pushing ahead with a plan to dig a railway tunnel under jerusalem's old city and name a station, yes, after president trump. the project would extend the soon to open high-speed rail line from tel aviv to the western wall. not just a train station. trump naming mania is sweeping the holy city after the commander in chief move forward with his promise to officially

recognize jerusalem as israel's capital, i moved announced by the u.n. but very popular in israel. several municipal projects are expected to be named after the president, including a proposal to change the name for the islamic leader who drove the crusaders out of the holy land. that street runs through the old city's muslim quarter and would be renamed to donald trump street. that should get interesting if it happens. meanwhile, the president getting another boost from corporate america tonight. are you about to get a bonus in your paycheck? that may be why democrats, who voted against the tax cuts, are suddenly changing their tune. what the shift in tone tells us about the trump tax cuts actually going to the middle class, next. and later, why did the liberal "vanity fair" magazine just want a video suggesting hillary clinton should learn to knit? sounds kind of sexist, don't you think? plus, first lady melania trump takes a selfie and it the internet. what's up with all the ill will towards the first lady? we will get some answers from a

top author coming up. ♪

>> ed: president trump is once again touting the stock market is evidence the economy is on the right track. he made the comments night during a visit with local firefighters in west palm beach. all this is democrats seem to be warming up into those tax cuts they voted against. spring and ellison barber with details. good to see you. >> this was an unannounced visit at least for those of us in the press. president trump did thank the firefighters for the work that they do, took a question from one of them and then moved on to talking about tax reform.

>> we had a lot of legislative legislative -- [inaudible] >> trump signed tax reform before the holidays, but it is still on many peoples minds. as senator lindsey graham released a statement today saying he was part of a celebration where a south carolina company "announced a 5% pay raise for employees as a direct result of the recent tax cut." the house approve the tax reform bill 224-201. most no votes came from democrats, some from republicans in high tax states. in the senate, every present republican voted in favor of the bill. all 48 democrats voted against it. democrats of the bill disproportionately benefits the

wealthy and corporations. >> i understand you are not a fan of the tax bill. if you don't like the large corporate tax cut and you're not happy with the tax cut for the wealthy, but according to the tax policy center, next year 91% of middle income americans will receive a tax cut. in that a good thing? >> it is a very good thing and that's where we should have made the tax breaks for the middle-class permanent. both the republicans did is made the tax breaks for corporations permanent, the tax breaks for the middle-class temporary. >> in the next week or so president trump is set to meet with republican leaders at camp david. that's according to the white house marc short toward "fox news sunday" they are both invited to camp david the first weekend in january. short says the goal is to make sure they are all on the same page when it comes to legislative priorities. sarah huckabee sanders told fox news just last week the administration is still deciding on their top priorities in 2018. some potential items include

infrastructure, immigration reform, the tax reform debate is far from over. that certainly seems like it could be a topic of -- and >> ed: talk about welfare reform, good to see you. you hurt senator sanders or self the tax cuts are an "very good thing" but they should've been permanent. a partial endorsement at least to the tax plan overall to an unusual shores. begs the question, would democrats vote on extending those tax cuts? one of many questions for former senior advisor of secretary of state hillary clinton and erick erickson, the founder of the resurgent and a fox news contributor. good to see you both, thanks for coming in. you and i have talked about this off-camera, but let's get on the record now, do you agree with bernie sanders that these tax cuts are not so bad? >> i think you, eric and i will benefit from tax cuts and i think it's hard enough coming on fox and talking about hillary clinton. i'm certainly not going to defend bernie sanders, but i think his point is correct, that

they were made permanent for corporations and not for individuals. >> ed: let me unpack that and i will give you more time. first of all, you took that little shop that the three of us are going to do well when bernie sanders himself said the tax policy center, both sides say is kosher here. 91% of middle income americans will get the break. you may say that people in washington will do great -- actually the middle class will do fine, would you admit that? >> the nearly 10% of the middle class is tens of millions of people. there are people watching the show who think they will get a tax cut warrant going to find out for months, if not a year that they are not. that's not okay. if you look at the brackets, i believe that that 91% is the lowest guaranteed number of any of the brackets. >> ed: i want to bring eric in here. i don't understand what's going on here. every single democrat in the house and senate voted against it and now they are saying wake

it permanent, make it permanent. the problem is you didn't make it permanent but they didn't vote for it temporarily. >> only 5% of americans under this bill are going to get a tax increase and all of the make over a million dollars a year. this is going to be a tax policy -- by the way, it is the corporate tax cuts that bernie sanders didn't really want to do that are causing people to see a $15 minimum wage by some corporations and thousand dollar bonuses from other corporations. it is also the policy barack obama wanted a corporate tax rate of 20%. actually 21 by republicans. the middle class is totally going to benefit from this and the democrats are an awkward position for having campaigned against it. >> rich lowry had an interesting tweet. he said in the last 24 hours "first things republican should do when they are back in january is make democrats vote on extending all the middle-class tax cuts. what do you think about calling the bluff and saying okay, the corporate tax cuts are

permanent, so are the personal ones? >> i think it's a great idea. democrats argue over what is middle-class, but i think they ought to try it. >> ed: i want to bring you in on something, a different domain different topic. you retweeted james comey and some of his truth and justice tweets, these long thinking things he does lately and you said dude, do not take any responsibility for this mess or damaging the fbi? dropped the sanctimony and take your share. i will give you 30 seconds to explain that, but also with you now admit then that some of the people at the fbi under comey, andrew mccabe and others, or biased in favor of hillary clinton? never should have been involved in that probe? >> the point i'm making that it made in the past is that james comey has politicized the fbi more than any director since hoover. there were steps put in place to prevent another hoover. he violated doj and fbi roles last year and now he's upset

that after meddling in a partisan election that there are people suffering for it. no, there are 10,000 fbi agents. i imagine at least 50% of them are democrats. i think more likely probably a much higher number. >> ed: this is america, people are allowed to have political opinions. but the opinions donald trump is an idiot, i can smell the supporters and walmart. that's just more than her opinion. >> i will not defend that, neither will bob mueller. bob mueller relieved him and kicked him off his team, which is the right thing to do. but strzok also tweeted those things before he had anything to do with this investigation. i think and les mueller's team wearing maga hats than we were will be discussing they are not suitable. >> ed: will bring you both back in a couple of minutes. coming up, another democratic

congressman under fire, reportedly a toxic work environment. what his former staffers are claiming. later, "vanity fair" sparking backlash. we will talk to the fellas about this from the left with a video marking hillary clinton and her failed presidential bid. "vanity fair," what happened there? ♪

>> ed: a democratic congressman from california is reportedly under fire for fostering what is being called a toxic work environment. los angeles aerial rep brad sherman allegedly shows "zero interest in his staffers or any of these allegations." eight former aides are saying the environment was so bad it's almost laughable to think staff would have felt comfortable raising their concerns. they are claiming verbal abuse from the congressman and that senior staff bullied and demoralize them. we will have more on this in the days ahead. let's bring the boys back. former senior advisor secretary of state hillary clinton and

erick erickson, fox news contributor. we were just talking james comey. i saw you champing chomping at. what you think about james comey trying to be the paramount virtue? >> i have to agree with him to a degree that james comey did politicized the fbi and he's politicized the investigation. he did make political decisions i think in 2015. from a republican perspective he didn't go far enough. it looks like they changed the wording on letters related to hillary clinton. james comey was not a good fbi director and no one should hold him up as a paragon of virtue. james comey should probably stay off twitter. >> ed: i bet he does agree with that, but philippe, it does does -- i want to ask, no bias, noble, and you are laughing. about two months before hillary clinton was exonerated the first time. i get that you are still upset that in october james comey decided to bring it back. about two months before the july news conference with the help of

peter strzok, james comey was drafting and exoneration statement before hillary clinton was even interviewed. even you as a friend and advisor to hillary clinton -- you have to realize that makes no sense. >> noble? >> ed: no bold. >> i think it shows that he was prejudging guilty, not the way you think. >> ed: i will let you answer, but why did they change all the language? >> because as the evidence showed and as the interview showed, there was no there there. one of the people interviewed, i can tell you that they realized that this was silly, it was a dumb mistake, it was even dumber scandal. >> ed: erick, do you buy that? >> not really. this is the james comey also decided to collaborate with christopher steele. >> ed: what about that? what about the fact that the dnc and the clinton campaign paid for the dossier and then when rod rosenstein was asked under oath a couple weeks back on the

hill, deputy attorney general, do you know whether or not the fbi pay for parts of the dossier, he said i think i know but i can't say. wouldn't answer the question under oath. what about the dossier that the clinton campaign helped pay for? >> you named two of the three groups that helped pay for the dossier, but not the first group. it was originally commissioned by a republican group. >> ed: trying to hurt donald t. >> ed: they did not pay the british spy. they were paying for business information. >> if you talk to people in the law enforcement intelligence community, christopher steel has an immaculate reputation. he was head of the russia station for british intelligence. i don't think that that history in their belief in his credentials that they would have done this. frankly, i think we are going to learn that parts of the dossier are proving true, and i think

that's why the fbi wanted to continue to pursue it. >> ed: last word on this and then we will talk "vanity fair." >> i think this all goes back to the fantasy of hillary clinton. she ran a back campaign. i don't think the fbi handed the election to donald trump. i don't think the russians did either. >> certainly didn't help. >> trying to say the russians to this is kind of a security blanket for democrats who don't want to admit that they nominated a terrible candidate. >> ed: meanwhile we are ending 2017 with no evidence of russian collusion. we will see what we will find in the 2018 investigation is open. "vanity fair" posting a video marking hillary clinton and her second failed bid for the white house. the 632nd video suggesting different new year's resolutions for including taking up knitting. "vanity fair" has since that it was an attempt at humor that missed the mark. quick look, you decide. >> take up a new hobby in the new year, volunteer work, knitting, improv comedy. literally anything that will

keep you from running again. >> ed: philippe, what say you? >> the humor certainly missed the mark, the most appalling part of this whole thing. but i don't think the intent missed the mark. "vanity fair" knew exactly what they were doing. maybe the woman who read that part who said that she is his offender than anyone who is offending, didn't know that that's naive. the person who wrote that script and person who handed that script a woman to read, they know exactly what they were doing. "vanity fair" was attacking, ironically, hillary clinton for straining to remain relevant in their eyes while "vanity fair" is straining to remain relevant. it was out-of-bounds, it was stupid, it was not funny. but i think they got the attention they wanted. we are standing or talking about it. >> ed: erick i see you smiling. i bet a fight between clinton fans and "vanity fair" is one where you are just licking your chops. >> this is one of the examples of trucks election just ruined comedy. they are not funny anymore. this was a dumb video and i

guess i got "vanity fair" buzz. it was just dumb. no humor at all. >> ed: we found some area of agreement. maybe this will be a happy new year indeed. appreciate you both coming on. good to see you. california couple has been arrested meanwhile on felony charges after police were tipped off about their high-tech drug dealing. at riverside, california, police say they have never seen anything quite like this. that's kind of i am struggling right now. after conducting surveillance of the paris home police discovered what appeared to be a drone flying and dropping drugs in a nearby parking lot. neighbor say once the drugs were delivered customers would drive by the home and throw cash in the front lawn. real news, not fake news. if it's a little bizarre. coming up, ivanka trump scores a political win. turns out she played a bigger role in the tax overhaul talks than the mainstream media gave her credit for. we will talk to a lawmaker who was in the room. he has firsthand knowledge and wants to talk about it. and later, first lady melania trump taking flack on social media yet again, this time after

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>> ed: presidential advisor and first daughter ivanka trump scored a political victory on the tax reform bill. at the first daughter spent months lobbying behind the scenes to have the child tax credit doubled as part of the legislation. republican congressman of arizona has some firsthand knowledge of just how big a role

was. he joins us now live. good to see you congressman. >> i appreciate the chance. >> ed: let's talk about this. we've been talking throughout the year since .. the president, his family, his daughter is obviously part of that. and yet in these negotiations you were working closely with her. how influential was she? >> look. she actually surprised me. have you ever had that moment where you are starting to speak to someone and they come back with the actually know their facts, they understand the mechanics and they understand also the cost and the difficult difficulty? because she knew her stuff it made her actually a real player in the discussion. >> ed: interesting, give me one example of that so we can understand. marco rubio, others deserve credit as well. he was pushing very hard. he was well. but give me an example of what she was like behind the scenes. >> this is been a passion of mike lee and rubio for a long

time. and to have ivanka trump actually sort of be the face of the discussion and understand its costly. you do spend in the tax code. but also even engaging in similar technical conversations. we actually have a birthrate crisis in the united states. we are not having enough children. programs like social security and medicare are pay-as-you-go programs. in about 18, 20 years, we don't have enough young workers moving into the workforce. and she was able to take that little statistic in our conversation, turn it around and say here's another reason we should make a family-friendly tax code, to see if that would also encourage families to actually grow in size. it lets broaden the conversation. >> ed: you have heard of the top of the hour we were talking about magically bernie sanders and others either who are independent and aligned with the democrats or our actual democratic senators and house members all of a sudden are saying the problem is you did

not make the middle-class tax cuts permanent. i find that interesting for two reasons. they are calling them middle-class tax cuts after claiming they were for the rich. there is may be progress. secondly, they now want something that they voted against to be permanent. can you explain to me what in the world is going on? >> you nailed it. i'm very impressed. the democrats in the senate could have made those tax cuts permanent instead of having to do the phaseout or the expiration because the meeting the budgetary's the byrd rule as we will call it. but they actually objected forcing -- >> ed: and then they voted no on the final version. >> exactly. so in the process, those very democrats could have said we want this to be permanent and it would have been. i think there's this weird misalignment. if you actually talk to a lot of

the democrats, particularly on ways and means, there's things they wanted but there's a lot of things they liked, a lot of things in this legislation they had worked on for years. but they made it very clear if they stand up and say nice things they are afraid of their own base. >> ed: last question -- >> the democratic base has gotten so radicalized. >> ed: politicians in both parties, not just democrats. they respond to the polls, they respond to what people back home in arizona or elsewhere are saying. and all we heard for weeks and weeks is that the polls show that this tax cut is unpopular. when you have democratic -- democrat stampeding out to make it permanent does that tell you the public opening is turning on this? >> the 1986, the reagan tax cuts had only an 18% favorability when they passed and look what happened in the following decade when people understood what it meant for jobs and the economy. >> ed: off the air you told me it was 77 degrees there in

scottsdale, i'm going to try let that go. it's a little frigid here in washington. nonetheless we appreciate you bringing a little warmth tonight, happy new year almost. >> happy new year to you. >> ed: first lady melania trump tweeted out a merry christmas photo, no big deal, right? why in the world was she told? that's next

>> ed: first lady melania trump taking flack on social media after posting this harmless christmas selfie. the first lady tweeted with the emojis of santa a christmas tree. the photo, which features a santa hat and reindeer unreached flurry of messages from detractors on twitter. the self-proclaimed first ladies man and author -- let me say along with my book it makes an

amazing new year's gift. had to get that in. >> absolutely. >> ed: what in the world is happening? a couple weeks ago the first lady decorated the white house for christmas, there were people in social media slamming her. do they not have anything better to do? >> unfortunately this isn't a new thing to criticize the first lady. think back to the seventh administration. andrew jackson's wife rachel was blasted in the papers after being a pipe smoking hillbilly from tennessee when he ran against -- >> ed: fighting words! >> horrible things, you wouldn't want someone to say that about a -- >> ed: bill clinton wanted to punch him in the nose as i wanted to recall. >> there were duels back in the 1800s that would've taken care of that. in the modern world we embrace social media and expect our first lady to do the same. shall obama and melania trump are the first to have the opportunity to do that and in that arena comes a lot of criticism. >> ed: on that point, we have a tweet here.

somebody actually tweeted out, disgraceful for the first lady, christmas or not, you look like a model on the photo shoot for the front bridge of hustler. mr. the elderly and poor will appreciate this photo about how you and your hubby don't care about them. we also see the anger that is really directed at her husband. >> and rossman. this is unprecedented. people are upset with her husband and they have this platform of social media but they can go uncensored and unregulated and say whatever they want about what i would agree with you is a harmless filtered snapchat tweet type of thing that everyone is doing. >> ed: i would also note earlier this week there were some chatter on social media about how the interjection tree was going to be taken down by melania trump and somehow this was her fault. at the national arboretum came out as of the tree has been dying for years. she tried to save it. i will say, credit to chelsea

clinton. she tweeted out thank you to all of the horticulturist and everyone from the national park service who have taken care of the beautiful grounds of the white house over the years. thank you for preserving part of a tree i am so many have treasured. i think chelsea clinton understands like a few others what it's like to have this garbage thrown at it. >> for sure and i think we should follow her lead and this and commend the first lady who has been criticized for not embracing the role or not taking it seriously. she had concern for the press and visitors, but this decaying tree would be falling on people. you've been there on that same's ground more than i have and wouldn't want a big limb falling in your head. she preserved history and a tree loved by many for years. they got it out there with chainsaws and a lumberjack outfit tearing it down. she printed almost noticeably. >> ed: important point to make as well that amid the attacks come at this first lady is very popular. a gallup poll from the beginning

of this month, 54% have a favorable opinion of first lady melania trump. 33% unfavorable, 3% never heard of her. 10% no opinion. i want to figure out the 3% was never heard of her. i remember covering george w. bush in the depths of the iraq war, laura bush was very popular. this happens. >> very much so. if these are possibly and arguably the most powerful unelected and unpaid women in the world by virtue of who they are married to. it when step out in these roles, we can take them more as human and they take on more human roles and causes and philanthropic endeavors and they poll higher always. >> ed: you study them all. we hear so often there's never been a president like this, true. maybe there's never been a first lady like this, has there? >> i set from the very beginning the early stages of the campaign, she has everything that we historically love and first lady. she's intelligent, she speaks multiple languages. she is young, she's attractive.

she's raising a child in the white house. these are things that especially on the international stage would play out for a first lady very well as they did for jacqueline kennedy, a fashionista. the more we see of melania trump and the more we see her embrace her role publicly, the more we like her. >> ed: that will overshadow the haters i suspect. good luck with the new book. coming up, just days away from saying goodbye to 2017, we will tell you how cities all across america are getting ready for the big celebration. the big celebration. with advil's fast relief, you'll ask, "what pulled muscle?" "what headache?" nothing works faster to make pain a distant memory. advil liqui-gels and advil liqui-gels minis. what pain?

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♪ >> ed: jugglers, acrobat artist, and even a strong man had a special audience at the vatican. a circus could perform for pope francis during his weekly audience and what has become a christmas tradition. the holy father use the address to remind his audience the tradition of gift giving was "a sign of our ride sued for the of jesus and our desire to share with others." that's pretty awesome. meanwhile, security on the vegas trip will be more intense than other following october's mass shooter that left more than 50 dead. officials say the number of personnel will double, including snipers, spotters, and aerial support. along with 300 national guard members. more than 300,000 visitors are expected to ring in the new year on the strip. meanwhile in new york city,

officials also tightening security, preparing for thousands do crowd times square this weekend. the finishing touches, they put on the waterford crystals, as crews assembled the famous new york ball. the theme this year, the gift of serenity. a i tweeted out a couple of days ago, what should i do when i fell in for shannon bream. many said, shannon bream. they said they wanted cz part is that my news. arizona diamondbacks first baseman, he paid off his parent's mortgage. he posted this video to his twitter account, of his mother reading a note to him, "these are all the sacrifices you made. i want our family home to be ours." awesome. some good news. before we go, some programming notes, new year's eve, you see that, i will be with lisa boothe and dean cain, 8:00 p.m. eastern, countdown to 2018 and

then jesse watters and kennedy, they will take the primetime seat, 10:00 p.m. to midnight. you got to be there, sunday night. we'll be back tomorrow night >> we have signed more legislation and broke the record of harry truman. if we get this tax-cut, that is the legislation of all legislations. >> hundreds of thousands will flock to times square to watch the ball drop, expect the most security ever for the event. >> disneyland, walt disney's original theme park which calls itself the happiest place on earth hit with major power outage --