>> shannon: for inter-mile marks the first day 2018. protests in iran turn deadly. speak of the obama of relieving sinkings hasn't failed. >> shannon: is now the time for president trump to take drastic action? and north korea's leader claims he is a nuclear button while also offering an olive branch? is american pressure paying off or not? we'll have full coverage from congressman chris stewart of the house intelligence committee. meanwhile, from "the new york times," clinton backers reportedly put up hundreds of thousand dollars before elective day in collections of efforts to drum up allegations of sexual harassment against then candidate donald trump. will debate the ramifications of the bombshell report and... >> i think it may very well

violate the due process and equal protection's law. >> shannon: state governors call the g.o.p. tax governors overhaul illegal. witness convenes, is it unconstitutional? ♪ >> shannon: hello and welcome to "fox news @ night." i'm shannon bream in washington. new tonight on those deadly protests shaking iran, which is also captured the attention of donald trump as he returns to washington tonight. in a fox news exclusive, a leaked memo from inside iran, translated to english, appears to show panic at the highest level of the iranian government. the report was leaked to fox news a short while ago, purporting to show how supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei is responding to the growing threat to the terrorist regime's power. in key passages from this report, government leaders are quoted as saying, "god help us,

this is a very complex situation and is different from previous occasions." protesters are said to be chanting "death to the dictator" and "the leader lives like god while the people of like beggars." president trump has been monitoring the situation closely and national security correspondent jennifer griffin is following the trump administration's response from the pentagon. good evening, jennifer. >> shannon, the death toll in iran rose to 13 today amidst reports that a protostar with a hunting rifle killed a police man and wounded three others during a protest 300 miles south of tehran. the violent protests have spread to more than half a dozen cities and started as a results of poultry and egg prices rising 40% last week. for the fifth straight day, protesters have taken to cities across iran, calling for the iranian regime to meet their economic needs. in a sign of how unprecedented

these protests are, they shouted for the supreme leader, ayatollah hominy, the nation's top islamic player, and protector of the 1979 resolution, to step down. president trump encourage the iranian people. iran is feeling at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by obama administration. the great iranian people have been repressed for many years. they are hungry for food and freedom, along with human rights, the wealth of iran is being looted, time for change. the vice president also weighed in, as long as donald trump is president and i am vp, the united states of america will not repeat the shameful mistake of our past when others stood by and ignore the heroic resistance of the iranian people as they fought against their brutal regime. the prime minister of israel sent encouragement, as well. a speaker when the surgery finally falls, and one day it will come up a rainy and israelis will be great friends

once again. i wish the iranian people's success in their noble quest for freedom. >> president obama's national security advisor susan wright scoffed at the trump administration's approach. how can trump help iran's protesters? be quiet. in 2009, the obama administration initially chose to say nothing so the regime could not blame the protests on outside interference from the u.s. >> that was the obama approach. if i were trump, i would do the exact opposite of obama. obama said i i don't want to gt involved, don't want to mess up a chance to get a deal. the deal has not worked, the money did not benefit the people, it went to benefit the ayatollah and his henchmen. it's not enough to watch. president trump is tweeting very sympathetically to the iranian people. you just can't tweet here. you have to lay out a plan. we do not want to make the same mistake that america made before 1956, calling opposition out of hungary and standing by

watching while soviet tanks crush the opposition. >> iran's president finally acknowledge the protesters in a new year's eve address and hinted at a crackdown. >> the government will definitely not tolerate those groups who are after the destruction of public properties or disrupting the public order or sparking rides in the society. >> some armed protesters have tried to take over police stations and military bases but were turned back by the security forces. iran's revolutionary guard has so far stayed on the sidelines, but iranian leaders have hinted they may be losing patience with the protests. the largest since the so-called green revolution in 2009. shannon? >> shannon: jennifer griffin from the pentagon. thank you. president trump arriving back at the white house via marine one a short while ago. from foreign threats to tackling immigration issues and new pressure for the fbi and doj over the so-called trump dossier, it will be a very busy start to 2018 washington gets back to work. here to help make sense of it all, kelly jane torrance, deputy

editor for the weekly standard. happy new year. >> you, too. >> shannon: we will talk more about the iran situation later but the president calling out pakistan, saying, "the united states is foolishly given pakistan more than $33 billion t 15 years and they have given us nothing but lies and deceit, think of our leaders as fools. they give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in afghanistan with little help, no more." there is talk of blocking and aid package to them, to the tune of about a quarter billion dollars. that is one way to start 2018. to speak of it is. i have to say, i think it's a great start to trump's twitter feed in 2018, that he is, instead of attacking the american news media, he is going after countries and leaders like iran and pakistan that are state sponsors of terror for that offer protection to terrorists, which, as trump points out rightfully, pakistan has done. there have been questions for years about how much the

pakistani government knew about where usama bin laden was, and you see terrorist groups constantly crossing the border from afghanistan into pakistan and back with seemingly no consequences. this is really something, it's about time. trump warned in his speech he gave about afghanistan last year that he was -- he put pakistan on warning. they knew this might be coming. clearly whatever has been going on behind the scenes, and the negotiations, have not resulted in anything. he's bringing it in public. >> shannon: there are some leaders who have said, there is more to this, we will expose the truth and lies. that debate, that bit of friction, far from over. let's talk about some of the things domestically he's got to deal with. daca, on wednesday, there'll be meeting of top congressional republicans and democrats, with different white house actors and leaders. the president saying there is no way, without a while and other -- possibly ending chain migration and the visa lottery, we are not going to move forward on daca. democrats say they hope they are not at an impasse before they get to the meeting.

here is what senator john thune said about where the democrats are in trying to work with republicans these days. >> they clearly have a strategy that runs, tries to obstruct at all costs. they were not willing participants in tax reform. i hope they are on some of these issues we mentioned earlier. but the fact is, as we head into this election year, there is a very different philosophy. as you listen to chuck schumer and other democrats talk, these are people who believe that the federal government in washington knows better how to spend your money than you do. >> shannon: do they get something done on immigration or daca? >> that is an excellent question, shannon. and i have trouble seeing it happening. first of all, you have the republican party itself split out some of these issues. you have the budget hawks who want to cut spending and then you have others who want to cut spending but not for the military. they want more money for the military. so you've already got the splits of the republican party. then add in the democrats. are the democrats willing to sit

down? they skipped their last meeting with trump because they didn't like the tweets right before. they look like they will go to this one but they have proven that they do not want to negotiate with donald trump. i am not sure politically it's a bad move for them. may be bad for the country but politically, if you look at all of the special elections we have had in the last year, democrats have done very well because there is a lot of anger about president trump and some of what he has done and i think democrats, they don't want their base to think, now we are working with this guy that all of you dislike and i think they also don't want to give anything to the republicans are donald trump that looks like a win going to the midterms. for them, they are making more of a political calculation on the policy calculation. >> shannon: somehow they've got to work out government funding because only a couple weeks from now, we'll be doing that again. i want to hit on this. congressman devin nunes, who heads the house intelligence committee has now said to the fbi and doj, you are not giving us the information that we are seeking.

he says this in a letter to the deputy ag rosenstein. as a result of the numerous delays and discrepancies that have hampered the process of subpoena compliance, the committee no longer credits or representations made by doj and/or the fbi regarding these matters." all connected to the russia probe. "we've asked for witnesses, scheduling, documents." we found out later that you did have the stuff even though you said you didn't. it's a weird intergovernmental, interbranch situation. >> that letter, you read the whole letter, it is kind of shocking. he says in there, i think it's about time for the fbi and doj to start investigating themselves. anybody who is overseeing this investigation of the fbi and doj, they have a tightrope to walk on. they don't want to enter by law enforcement in america and they don't want to undermine america's highest institution of law enforcement. you don't want to have americans thinking they can't trust the fbi to do its job properly. but at the same time, they need to make sure that a very, very

sensitive political investigation of top political leaders was done fairly and done right and we are seeing things coming out that make it look like may be only a few people at the fbi and the doj but enough to have americans wondering, hey, we are a partisan politics behind what should be legal, nonpartisan investigations. it's a tough tightrope to walk and i think they have a new naz is picking one side and i think even some republicans are nervous that he will pick another. let's get some answers. if they are asking for information and they are not providing it, you have to wonder why. why won't they -- this is congress, they have the ultimate subpoena power. >> shannon: he's given them a deadline of january 3rd. wednesday. we'll see. kelly jane torrance, great to have you. >> great to be here. happy new year. to be when you come as well. turning to our top story, iran. senator lindsey graham said that deadly unrest there is proof that the previous administration's approach failed. >> it tells us that the obama

approach of relieving sanctions hoping the regime would moderate has failed. the people are not getting the benefit of sanctions relief. they are more upset with their oppressors from ever. the money from sanctions relief has gone into building the iranian military, destabilizing the middle east. >> shannon: for a reaction or more, let's turn to republican congressman from utah, chris stewart. thanks for joining us tonight. it is good evening, happy new year. >> shannon: to you, as well. what do you make what has been going on and around? >> senator graham has it exactly right. we have an opportunity to correct one of the great failures of the previous administration. president obama was sublimely committed, so determined to create this iranian nuclear agreement that he cowed hallowed to the ruling elites and that he entirely forgot about the iranian people. they know that now. they see the economic impact that has had on their lives and

they understand why they are beginning to rise up. >> shannon: this with the president tweeted. "iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the obama administration. the great iranian people have been repressed for many years. they are hungry for food and freedom along with human rights. the wealth of iran is being looted time or change." senator graham said, you got to follow that up. there has to be a plan that is spelled out. there has been talk of the president giving a speech identifying exactly what steps could be taken to help these folks. what do you make a path? >> let's talk about the things we know that don't work right i was surprised to hear when you quoted susan rice, the president should remain quiet. that is what president obama did during the revolution and we know what happened there. we have failed utterly because they felt like a -- the people felt like he had been abandoned and frankly by the world community. that doesn't work, we know that won't work. the second thing, this is so

important, we have spent -- sent billions of dollars to the iranian leaders, as a result of the agreement we talked about a moment ago, billions of dollars. think about this. about 450 million of it was sent to them in cash. literally a plane load of euros and dollars. why? it was because they wanted to have that cash to funnel it to hezbollah, to funnel it to other terrorist organizations. that money wasn't going to be going to the iranian people. they wanted it in cash so they could funnel it, it wouldn't be traced. again, the reigning people were promised, the sanctions relief would make an economic difference in their lives, they just simply -- the mullahs are not honest with their own people, they have not been honest with the american people, and we are seeing the result of. >> shannon: if i remember correctly, secretary -- then secretary of state john kerry said something to the effect, there was no way to guarantee that this cash would not flow into the terrorist organizations are bad actors ready want to ask you about another foreign policy

hot spot, north korea. we have a little bit from kim jong nam talking about exactly what kind of threat. he says he has a nuclear button now and he says this about reaching the u.s. >> translator: the entire u.s. mainland is within range of the u.s. nuclear strike in the button is always on the table in my office. they should clearly know that this is not a threat but rather, a reality. >> shannon: readily go with north korea? >> oh, my gosh. it's a challenge. i don't think that he has a button on his desk. they are capable of reaching the u.s., but he is very, very close. the president has made it clear, and i completely agree with him, he will not allow north korea, he will not allow kim jong un, to threaten and blackmail and take not one or two u.s. cities, but literally dozens of u.s. cities and destroy them if he would use to. you can't allow that to happen. you ask what do we do. i think the sanctions, and it has to start with sanctions and

diplomatic efforts. it was interesting, as we have seen some of these oil tankers that have been secretly refueling north korea. look, if you think china wasn't aware of that, then you don't understand the chinese leaders. they are certainly aware. they are aware of everything that happens within their country. they are certainly aware that they had some ships that were coming out and refueling these north korean tankers. i think they were testing us. when i say them, i mean the chinese leaders. they were pledging they would enforce the sanctions for they have not been honest with us in the past. again, i think they were testing us to see if we would hold them accountable. we have impounded two of those ships now. president trump has been very clear in the world community, calling chinese leaders out on this, pointing out what they have done. it's important that he does that. but we have to keep the pressure on. we have to keep the pressure on the chinese it, as well. >> shannon: also north korea -- we'll talk more coming up about whether a

blockade is a possibility, whether it's work, whether it would be effective, who would he to cooperate in order to get that done. but in the meantime, kim jong un also said that he's willing to have talks with south korea and they have said, the door has always been open. if we thought there was a way we could work on this, we'd be willing to have conversations. kim jong un saying it's time for both sides to ratchet on the military tension. do you think it would be helpful for those two sides to get together? cannot bring about effective change? >> it's obviously something we want to encourage what we need to do it with her eyes wide open. we can be naive. i was a young air force captain flying a b1 we were told by president clinton, because we were preparing for north korea, this was in the mid-'90s, the president said, no, it's not necessary, we have this agreement, the north koreans will never have nuclear weapons. of course, that wasn't true and he failed on my policy. they are very, very good about using negotiations in order to stall for time while they

continue with the development of their nuclear programs or their muscle programs. so as long as we are aware of that and we don't go into this blindly, but again, what we are trying to do is to force him to the table, so let's not take -- if he does present an olive leaf, let's not rush that aside. lets sincerely try to engage him, but let's do it, as i said, in a mature, showing judgment that recognizes that that they are not always honest with us, in fact, they are rarely honest with us, we don't want them to delay these negotiations just so he can complete his missile program. >> shannon: congressman chris stewart, thank you very much for weighing in on this new year's day. thank you so much, sir. >> thank you. it's a pleasure. >> shannon: remember that are part about an l.a. lawyer who tried to line up big payouts for women accusing then candidate donald trump of sex harassment? tonight, another report, this time from "the new york times." shedding new light on the alleged scheme. details come breaking, just ahead. later, you may have or that some politicians in california,

new york, new jersey, they don't like the $1.5 trillion tax cut plan going into effect today. they may be heading to court. you'll hear from both sides in "night court." plus, we'll explain by fireworks were especially revered at one iraqi city this when a cold calls... achoo! ...answer it. with zicam cold remedy. it shortens colds, so you get better, faster. colds are gonna call. answer them with zicam! zicam. get your better back. now in delicious fruit drops. and for fast acting nasal relief, for up to 12 hours, try zicam extreme congestion relief and zicam intense sinus relief. for colds and allergies, get your better back with zicam.

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that's why, at xfinity, we've been working hard to simplify your experiences with us. now, with instant text and email updates, you'll always be up to date. you can easily add premium channels, so you don't miss your favorite show. and with just a single word, find all the answers you're looking for - because getting what you need should be simple, fast, and easy. download the xfinity my account app or go online today. ♪ >> shannon: well-known attorney and her daughter allegedly tried to offer cash to women considering coming forward with sexual harassment claims against then candidate donald trump. according to "the new york times," attorney lisa bloom, the daughter of attorney gloria allred, worked on raising hundreds of thousand dollars to encourage alleged sexual misconduct victims of trump to tell their stories. fox news white house correspondent is here with more on that. for you to speak of it is actually called pay for play

and to be completely honest, it is one of the oldest and most popus right here in washington. you know the idea. you pay someone a little money, maybe a lot of money, to's mere political enemy are taken down. in this instance, we are talking about political gamesmanship that could cause the accused not just their job, in fact a lot more, could cost them their very freedom. as you pointed out, "the new york times" and other outlets, to be fair, confirmed that democratic political partisans are now exploiting the "meal, too" movement, raising hundreds of thousand dollars to support a accusers who come forward with charges against political opponents. in notably, gloria allred, an unabashed supporter of hillary consider the democratic party, w raising money to fund a lawsuit against the president by a woman by the the dash she says she ws assaulted by the just regular me

accusations that the president strongly denies. while this is happening, as gloria allred's daughter and also a lawyer, lisa bloom, admits that she collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from clinton backers before the 2016 election in a last-ditch effort to vent and present another trump accuser. that effort did not pay out. you will find this interesting. a chunk of that money, shannon, actually came from a guy by the name of david brock. you probably remember his name. brock, a former conservative hatchet man, some have called him called him previously, he is a strident hillary clinton supporter. he has made no secret of the fact that he has a desire to create a fund that would help to pay other accusers to come forward with accusations against republicans across the spectrum. and while they effort, i think, it is not limited to left-wing groups who are out there trying to pay for play, there are a number of right-wingers who have done this, some conservative bloggers. it does beg the question, does

the fact that an accuser is being backed by politically partisan money denigrate their charge? visit somehow negate the validity of their charge? may be a better question is, should it? sheehan and? >> shannon: very good question. thank you very much, kevin. here to discuss those questions brought up by kevin and moore, beverly hallberg with the heritage foundation, and former missouri congressman don calloway. great to have you both. both. >> happy new year. >> shannon: i want to start with linda bloom, one of the attorneys here that we are talking about and -- excuse me, lisa bloom. this is what she has to say. "it doesn't cost anything to publicly air allegations. security and relocation are expensive and were sorely needed in the course of this magnitude in a country filled with so much anger, hate, and violence." she said this is about protecting these women if they decided to come forward. not paying them to manufacture something. >> i think in many ways it is damaging. if these claims are proven true, of course they are concerning

come but when you have someone saying, i will pay you, she reached out to tabloids, saying we can do some type of interview with them if you want. she was going to get a pay out herself to do this. i actually think there are reasons, if you are reporting, to say, hey, you are getting paid for this, are these actual allegations something that should be pushed against him? i would say, when you take a look at the allegations against president trump, i think it also begs the question, why are they having him work so hard to find women who want to speak out? having to pay women, i think it hurts their case when they are saying he did something. >> shannon: that is the thing. even if these are legitimate claims, if any of these women, when you have them -- with the money factors in and people have other questions, this is for my very prominent attorney who was also in "the new york times" piece. he says, if you are getting money from someone who has an ax to grind against a person you are accusing of unlawful activity, that opens the door to a line of questioning that very well could undermine the veracity of your clients story.

>> it's not good. i use to practice law as a younger fellow and this is a bad back but it's not a determinative factor by any means. at the end of the day, you have to get past the salacious nature of this whole thing and look to the nature of the claims. it is what they are saying true? will they have a day in court and ultimately, is that something that is provable? and in this me too moment that it's affected all of our professional and public and private lives, the president is not the one person who gets to say, they were paid, that is not the case. "the new york times," "washington post," whatever political slant they may take, is a pretty standard practice, as kevin reported, to pay witnesses to come forward with the various news pieces again, not a good fact but it's not a determinative fact by any means. what we should be looking at is whether or not what these women are saying is true. >> shannon: in so many of these cases, if you are in the middle of an election, it is so important to have due process and your day in court. beverly, so many times when these are in the middle of the campaigns, there is not that time so it is now the court of public opinion and that can have a significant impact on who gets

elected. >> you were even saying, it is about lisa bloom saying we wanted to do this prior to the election, so this is also trying to change the trajectory of election, which i do have concerns with. i would say when you're taking a look at accusations, you have to say, can you corroborate this information? are there multiple people, are they speaking on their own? this is where the payment gets tricky because if they are getting paid off, you wonder why they are doing it. you have to look at multiple people speaking out. figuring out whether or not anybody else can corroborate it. i think that is what it comes down to and figuring out whether or not it is actual proof. >> shannon: dawn, folks have done this on both sides of the opera democrat strategist, republican strategists, they have been coordinations across the years and across party lines. >> there have. so it's not really a partisan issue. i would also think, as kevin reported, there is very practical matter as to why you would pay a witness or someone to come forward. first of all, the day that a woman comes forward, her life is

no longer hurts. she's a public figure whether or not she ask for it. she's got media camped out on her name is in front of the world. perhaps that is something you have to incentivize and want to do if their claims of truth. secondly, if this thing moves toward legal proceedings, as the bloom's and gloria allreds wanted to happen, losses caused money. you have depositions, court reporters, all these things cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for. ultimately they have to be financed. i realize that the money is not a good fact for big-time democrats but it's kind of unfortunately the reality that we live in and it doesn't mean that these women do not have serious claims, which should be looked at. >> shannon: beverly, some of the women of the last few weeks, we've heard about these reports of lisa bloom, decided not to come forward. they wanted a lot more money because they got their lives were never going to be private again, they wanted security. or they personally decided wasn't worth a personal cost. >> you have to take that into consideration. there is, as he were just income a lot that can happen if they do come out for their name is out, what does it mean for their career? i want to take a look at lisa

bloom and look at some of her past trajectory in these cases. she did defend harvey weinstein. there are concerns about, if you are and attorney that wants to stand up for women's rights, why did you defend harvey weinstein and why are you saying we want to go against him? it looks political. i think that's why the women decided that they don't want her to defend us in this. >> shannon: even she has backtracked on not saying, that wasn't the best decision. as an attorney, we know that you are not always simpatico with your client. >> no doubt it's political. let's put out there, harvey weinstein is a terrible guy. i think it is one thing that everybody can agree on and the new year. it is extremely political. that is the case. but that is also the nature of the game that we have all chosen to play. you can't deny that it's political but again, we can't deny that these women might have a serious claims. >> shannon: both of them can reach her at the same time. great to see you both. >> happy new year.

>> shannon: we will not ask about resolutions yet. we will tell you coming up but a very dangerous journey through high mountain passes without warm enough clothes, danger at every turn. who these people are, where they are going, what they are trying to escape from necks. and then californians brought in the new year on a high at the toque of liberty mutual stood with me when this guy got a flat tire in the middle of the night, so he got home safe. yeah, my dad says our insurance doesn't have that. what?! you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.

>> shannon: january 1st is not just the start of a new year. it is the day hundreds of new state laws kicking all over the country. here are some interesting ones. and i will come of orders will be asked to provide an i.d. if you don't have one, you can sign an affidavit and cast a provisional ballot. come 2019, you will need an i.d. west virginia voters also need an i.d. from now on. california is implementing a sanctuary state law that will be on law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate or detain people based on immigration status. critics say that will limit cooperation between states and local law enforcement and federal immigration agents. also in california, employers are no longer allowed to ask you about prior salary information or to use it to determine whether or not to offer you a job. an organ, they were up for smoking age from 18 to 21, and a couple of new laws in illinois. one that allows pets to be treated as children instead of property in cases of divorce, and for former couples to set up legal custody agreements.

the other law establishes barack obama day on august 4th, his birthday. as a commemorative holiday, so you still have to go to school and work. in california, as the clock struck midnight, the state became the six of the country to legalize recreational marijuana, giving some canvas users a lawful way to celebrate. marianne rafferty has more from los angeles. >> cannabis consumers ring in the new year on a high. winding up early at dispensaries around the golden state. >> positivity, something to show some light, to where it is not necessarily negative. negative. >> only a handful of stores like this one, an hour from los angeles, received a state license to open today. that is because it was left up to local jurisdictions to approve licensing. larger cities, like l.a. and san francisco, are still working out the details. dispensaries already used to selling medical cannabis, are ready to serve the public. >> it is going to change from dispensing medication, i hope you feel better, to, "enjoy the

high." [laughs] >> california is a sick state to legalize recreational pot but now with added on seals. >> i expect a 30% increase because we will be burdened with heavier taxation and we will have to hire more staff. >> cannabis sales have been legal for four years in colorado. supporters say in spite of some early symbols, government regulation works. >> you can control us. we know who is producing it and who is selling it and we know that they are following rules that will protect public health and safety. >> not to mention, millions in new tax revenue for state and local governments. in california, lawmakers hope to collect $1 million in 2018. billions more in years to come. but opponents of legalization say it's not worth it. >> what we have seen when that use increases, is things like the traffic fatalities increasing, the use obviously,

and abuse come of it also increasing. we also look at things like hospitalizations and homelessness, and a whole other realm of things that are unintended consequences. >> what happens in california is here to be seen. the new law says you must be at least 212 buy. you can smoke in public and road signs along many california highways remind drivers that driving while highest l.e.d. ui. shannon? >> shannon: thank you very much. where in the world, now in about 90 seconds. we begin in in a rock. day seen the likes of which has not been experienced in far too long. the northern iraqi city of mosul enjoying fireworks of the strike of midnight last night and it's a big deal because mosul was just recently liberated from isis. it was the first new year's celebration and four years. they also held a christmas mass in the area, a significant

development because as you know, isis tried to drive christman's out out of that caliphate during those four years of war. while these inventors are braving a new land and crossing new and unfamiliar mountains, this is not a scene from the next installment of "the "lord of the rings"." middle eastern migrants are trying to cross the border between italy and france by passing on detective through high mountain passes in the alps. they hope to reach shelters before freezing to death or getting caught up a french police. to africa now, and an alcoholic beverage factory in cameroon catching on fire. the blaze is spreading to nearby homes and is cool very difficult to control because of the heat and all that alcohol fuel. people try to salvage some of the booze before it wound but most of it was lost. at least eight people died when a fast ferry capsized off indonesia as part of borneo island. rescue efforts are underway and several other passengers are believed to be missing. both accidents are common in that area according to experts

because of poorly enforced safety regulations. "night court" will be in session and just a moment. we'll take it to new york for governor andrew cuomo was threatening to take the newly passed tax plan to court. but first, south korean authorities he sees a second ship a coused of importing oil into north korea at the thh as the robed patient delivers a menacing message the u.s. >> i am proud of what we did last year, and i saw what kim jong un said in his address to him it may be determined to work harder. yea, so, mom's got this cold #stuffynose .. pow! it instantly opens your nose up to 38% more than cold medicine alone so you can breathe... ...and sleep. go to breatheright.com today to request a free sample.

.. ♪ >> shannon: south korean authorities have seized a second ship they suspect of violating international sanctions by supplying oil to north korea. recently, tough u.n. sanctions were imposed, banning nearly all of north korea's oil imports in an attempt to curb ballistic missile tests. secretary of state rex tillerson has called on all nations to clamp down on the rogue regime, saying that the u.s. has a right

to interdict maritime traffic. some experts are saying that as a solution to bringing pyongyang to heal as a displays a new so-called nuclear button in yet another threat. joining me now to discuss, michael walz. great to see if. >> thanks, shannon. >> shannon: i want to start with an opinion piece on foxnews.com from retired lieutenant commander from the navy, he said short of a naval blockade where every ship in the vicinity of north korea is aborted, search, and if necessary, and found it, it would be impossible to close the oil lifeline. is it a realistic solution? >> big picture, president trump must consider -- this is an important part of it -- every option on the table, short of the military option, because so much is at stake. what would a blockade, a naval blockade seek to accomplish? basically temporal things. one, to stop the inflow coming into north korea of oil and gas

and other things that can benefit its nuclear program, and the export, and particularly north korea, of its textiles and seafood where it gets a lot of hard currency. but operationally, it would be incredible tough. it would seriously tie down the pacific fleet, specifically the 7th fleet based out of japan and its the 7th fleet that already lost two ships this year, the mccain and the fitzgerald, those collisions that we women were talking about. it would have to be part of an overall strategy. i would still like us to see focused on china and choking off and encouraging the chinese to choke everything off to north koreans. remember, they still have a very long land border with north korea, they have an oil pipeline, and what we do risk with a blockade is that we tied down the pacific fleet while the chinese are still supplying the north koreans because to them,

it is more of our problem then it is a chinese problem. >> shannon: they've got to be made to feel like it is in their best interest to act in a way that is negative, has a negative impact. by the way, north korea's media outlet set about this about the blockade, they said should the u.s. and its followers try to enforce a naval blockade against our country, we will see it as an act of war and respond with merciless self-defense countermeasures as we have warned repeatedly. that sounds pretty much like the response we get from just about everything. >> that's right. in this case, a blockade is considered historically an act of war by most countries. the other piece here, though, is an authority issue. we would need a u.n. sanctions specifically authorizing the use of force. right now, what the u.n. authorizes is an inspection regime and that is fine and we are starting to do that, certainly seeing the south koreans do it, but if a ship does not comply, we are not authorized to use force to get

it to comply. we would have to go back to the u.n. for additional authorities and again, what we what risks, at the end of the day, i think if -- i would like to see is try a blockade before we go to the final military option. but we do risk also a slow escalation at the end we could risk losing the benefit of surprise by a precision strike on the nuclear program and leadership. i bought for the president to consider. to be when you talk about china. we know russia is also a factor, as well. how did those who believe north korea is a threat to them, how do they convince china and russia it is in their best interest to get involved in a more substantive way? >> at the end of the day, we have to make the chinese in particular, the russians to a lesser degree, start feeling the pain and making as part of their problem. how do we do that? one, we can authorize and work

with the japanese to go offensive. their constitution right now prevents that in terms of their military. reintroducing tactical nuclear weapons into south korea, which we had up until the 1990s, and a number of other things, in terms of introducing more advanced missile defense and more advanced radars, to the point for the chinese see the security dynamic drastically shifting against them in asia and they say, you know what, north korea, you are more of a problem then you are right then we will take drastic action. >> shannon: every day a new twist in this. michael walz, thank you so much for helping us break it down. great to see you. >> happy new year. >> shannon: some governors say they are ready to launch a legal battle over the g.o.p.'s tax overhaul. the argument is that the tax cuts are unconstitutional. our legal eagles are here. they are on the case when they are on the case when "night court" is in session the great emperor penguin migration. trekking a hundred miles inland to their breeding grounds. except for these two fellows.

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♪ >> shannon: we shall now convene tonight the addition of "night court." the newly passed republican tax overhaul goes into effect today, most of it, but some blue state governors like new york's andrew cuomo save a new tax code may actually be illegal because it places a $10,000 cap on state and local property taxes. >> we are doing the legal research now to see if there is a legal challenge. i think it may very well violate the due process and equal protection laws. it is the most egregious political act i have seen, not since the civil war have you seen the states this divided. >> shannon: he argues that tax cuts are unconstitutional because they violate the fifth amendment, known for its production against self-incrimination. that also protects individuals

against seizure of life property, liberty, without due process. he along with california governor jerry brown and the new jersey governor say they are exploring legal challenges. let's bring our legal eagles, criminal defense attorney, vinoo varghese, arguing on behalf of the democratic governors, and doug burns, arguing the tax law is constitutional. welcome, gentlemen. this is what political -- democratic political analyst say, it is a no-brainer, failing to aggressively pursue this would be political malpractice. he is thinking of the potential legal won, and it being a potential win. >> a perfect place to start. it is way more political, of course, then legal. obviously, new york state is a very high tax state and to cap the deduction for state and local and real estate taxes, $10,000, it does harm people

whose taxes are above that measure. but legally, the claim that is unconstitutional based on equal protection grounds is incredibly weak. maybe they want to hit the books a little harder and come up with some other avenue. think about it, shannon. you have distinctions in the internal revenue code all over the place. single filing is different than married. if you earn x dollars, that is with the tax code is. so to say that this distinguishes unconstitutional, against someone whose taxes are higher than 10,000, incredibly weak argument. >> shannon: you are not the only one who thinks that. the professor of tax law at indiana university school of law says, "i don't understand how they think they have a valid lawsuit here. most go to vinoo? >> the argument that governor cuomo should be making is that this is double taxation. when you pay the federal income tax, when you pay a tax to the

federal government, you have a tax liability, the way the income tax was created during the civil war was that you take care for state under local property taxes first before you pay anything to the federal government. so that's the premise that governor cuomo should start with. then, from a p.r. perspective, the democrats can now make the argument that they are the party for states rights, they are the party of limited government because by eliminating this deduction, this deduction, by eliminating or reducing it to $10,000, what's happening is that more money is being given to the federal government. you can make the argument that it exploding the federal government. >> shannon: that's not an argument that i hear democrats make a lot, doug, that there is too much money going to the federal government and bloated. both parties have been, you know, not too ambitious about cutting spending when it comes down to it. but what do you make about the potential argument? >> i like the way my colleague raises another avenue, which is

double taxation, as opposed to the very week equal protection argument. but the argument is, i think the double taxation is a little wea weak, most respectively. taxing social security, medicare, and income tax, those are triple taxation on your same earning. i think it's a tough argument. there was a key set of maryland, but it said, if i am in marilyn's and i earned money in colorado and colorado taxes may come i don't tax the emphysema earnings in maryland. that is a little bit different. >> shannon: there we get into the commerce clause, and i don't want to make us go back to law school. it would not apply in the federal case. flashback to the bar exam. >> actually, doug raised the case, that is actually the case that i think will work in the favor of the democrats if they push it. you have a conservative court saying that taxation, when a maryland resident was making money and being taxed outside the state, they couldn't get a

deduction for that in-state, this is the same kind of argument that democrats should be making when they ultimately make it here. you don't know where it is going to go but i think what is going to happen as you will have these governors, governor brown, governor murphy, or governor cuomo, filing this day and then i will get to the supreme court, and no one expected chief justice roberts to save obamacare. so you just don't know don't know. >> shannon: it seems like that is the left protocol, with just about anything that president trump gets done, so much of it is tied up in the travel ban, all kinds of things, and legal battles, most of them filed in the ninth circuit, where it makes a tavern for him to get anything done. vinoo, what you make of the argument that a lot of people say, you should put pressure on your state and local leaders to lower those taxes that may be not expect people to pay for all kinds of programs and do things? cut spending at the state level if you are so worried about how high the taxes are. >> the way that the states work,

particularly in new york, new jersey, california, there is a level of services that people expect. i recently was having this conversation with a friend of mine, and nypd captain, a staunch republican. he is angry, he says, look, cops, this bill will kill cops, it will kill civil servants, because they entered into a contract with the government to buy homes. why was it important to buy homes? property taxes pay for schools. so the cop was only deduction is that of the mortgage tax deduction, is now being limited basically, this captain friend of mine was saying it's killing him. it's a bigger republican guy. >> shannon: a lot to dig through. as we see the reality of it play out, republicans remain convinced that it will be good and folks, once they get it, well appreciated, and when they see the difference in their paychecks, we'll see. doug and vinoo, great to have you with us. we elect folks at home decide what they think about your arguments. thank you for being with us.

every year, just about everywhere, some folks take the plunge in the heart of winter. but this mentor is not like most others and that has the traditional polar bear plunge is in deep trouble. we'll explain next. you won't see these folks at the post office. they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue. how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. get a 4 week trial, plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again.

>> shannon: this is not for the faint of heart. earlier today, taking part in the annual coney island polar bear plunge.

they enjoyed 50-degree weather last year, this year, it was about 17 degrees. he complained about freezing feet and >> angry protests have spread against iran killing 13 people since saturday. in regime that is very unified you have a large contingent for destruction of the regime. >> lots of green coming and lots going out. >>