>> garrett: welcome back i'm major garrett in for john dickerson. we turn now to our political panel, julie pace is the washington bureau chief for the associated press. ed o'keefe covers congress and politics for the "washington post." and cbs news contributor. also joined by rachel bade and david nakamura white house reporter forethe "washington post" and am i proud graduate of the university of missouri school of journalism. welcome do you all and happy new year. president told "new york times" recently that he thought special counsel robert mueller would be fair. he didn't seem to express given the opportunity all of the hostility some republicans in congress in the late waning months of december expressed towards special counsel, his

staff, his motives. what does this tell us if anything about where the white house actually is on this and never ending question in washington, where is the russia investigation go. >> for months the president has been hearing from two different camps on bob mueller. he's been hearing from some of his outside visors, people who have been around him for years say that he needs to be tougher on bob you'll mere. >> garrett: better legal team. >> needs to be more aggressive in going lot of what the friends and advisors. those are the white house lawyers. people like ted cobb, who have been saying to the president that he actually would be in a stronger position if he let this investigation run its course. in that moment, that's where the president seems to be. seems to be taking the vie of those lawyers, i think heading into 2018 the thing to watch, how trump reacts to the reality that this investigation is not going to be over quickly. those same lawyers have been telling him that this is winding down. all evidence points to the

contrary. that this is an investigation that street still robust, still pursuing new avenues how the president reacts, how fair he thinks mueller is being when he realizes that this could consume a second year of his presidency. could really change the direction of this administration in 2018. >> garrett: the president said the investigation is not good for the country, makes it look bad. sit burdening congress? is it becoming something that congress doesn't know what to do with or can't bring to conclusion? >> republicans feel certainly distraction from their legislative 'general darks they would rather talk about tax reform than what's the latest turn in the russia investigation. the whole thing with the president saying that the investigation is going to be fair is interesting when you sort of compare with what his allies on the hill are doing in terms of trying to discredits the investigation. >> garrett: preemptively discredit. >> before we see the conclusion. just in the past week or so we've seen -- heard news about secret house republican investigation led by trump ally

who leads house intelligence committee panel. this is basically a probe of whether there is corruption in the fbi and they are also talking about senior fbi officials and want to ask about any contact with journal lists, trump might be setting back saying, i'm going to let mueller do do his job. but his allies on the hill. >> also framework in that interview he said 16 times there was no collusion. he seems to be suggest can that he will be treated fairly assuming there's certain outcome. i think one point that julie made is important which is that, in that same interview trump acknowledged that he doesn't know when this investigation will end. something where his own lawyers have told him thanksgiving, then christmas, then the end of the year. that does not seem to be happening. the president seems to acknowledge that. >> it's incredible that the party that is built on law and order has been supported by law enforcement and first responders of this country, is now after the preeminent law ebb

forcement agency in this country. one thing, you have to remember thousands of personnel across the country crimes far outside of washington to be going after them this way has real risk to the republican party going into the mid terms. you're going to need those types of people to turn tout for republican candidates, if they're going after the fbi in this way, you wonder whether or not that affects their support. >> yet some of those republicans who raise these concerns were sifting at this table they would say, it's not the fbi we're going after, we're going after people who have text messages that are at least problematic. in what they say about political orientation, what it might mean for them as investigators. and you have an fbi process dealing with hillary clinton that was outside of what would be regarded as normal protocol. i'm not saying that. lots of people who are experts in the law have looked said there's no question that needs to be answered here. >> can you raise this in a way that gets to some of those answers without in a risk that

you suggested. >> that is a tricky balancing act. >> among republicans. >> absolutely. >> lindsey graham said he wants mueller to continue to do his job. people like him, compare him with devin nunez who is aggressive on this saying there is corruption and bias at the fbi. but lot of republicans on the hill who are not comfortable with that. that is going to grow wider. >> garrett: julie, you heard the rather lively conversation we had among our four members of congress, two republicans, two democrats about daca could, the dreamers, seemed to me that that was just a preliminary round. this is going to get very intense and the politics of it are going to get white hot. >> absolutely. this is going to be the big issue to watch in 2018. it's so emotional. so personal for so many people. and because most lawmakers in

both parties would like to have solution to this problem, republicans don't want to be the party that let a million young people who came to this country as children be deported. but they also are looking to the president for some guidance on how hard he's going to be on the markers he has lay down which say will give you daca if you give me a border wall. one thing i heard from democrats some worry let the perfect be the enemy of the good here. some democrats are open to the idea that you could give on border security, give on technology at the border, something that would allow the president to stay safe with his base go forward say look at all this i got for border security even if it's not a physical wall. but again if you heard debbie dingell she wants clean daca. that seems like that is going to be impossible. >> separating those issues. >> seems like impossible. >> garrett: a mere suicide mission for the white house if it were to go that route because it would invited amnesty rolling

over, giving in and abandoning the things that were central to your campaign. >> remember on calendar you have january 19 which is next spending bill expires, when they want to come up with solutions to this problem. otherwise, march 5th -- >> garrett: next shut down. >> then march 5 is it is deadline for daca. did you hear anyone present a proposal? >> garrett: or timeline. >> no why where near agreement. i think as julie was saying the real break can point here is going to be, once they put down what the compromise is for daca, we're going to save these kids. not just kids. they're adults. anywhere between 640,000. once you figure that out, what are you going to get in return? i'm less interested in what the republican response to that will be. than the democratic response. a lot of these congressmen from immigrant districts, l.a., chicago, new york, are going to go home and if these people are told you're getting your status,

but we're also going to do all these other things, backlash for democrats -- >> the president has been all over the map on this. he talked earlier when he announced ending daca that we could do border separately. do border wall separately. now talking about the wall again in this interview. but save migration. things like this, up to 50,000 a year for certain countries that don't have lot of immigrants. they have been talked about being eliminated understand past. understand 2013 bill. these are not new ideas. but i think border wall something that democrats look at as important to them saying, no, on something like. that as it is for trump and his base to get some start on that. >> garrett: we saw right before congress left town, house members going to chuck schumer's office and trying to read him the riot act for not standing up on these issues. these tension, rs are real now. >> not only with democrats how much to demand in return for

daca but also with the republicans in terms of how much demand for daca but democrats as well in terms of should they have held their line before christmas getting this fixed. this is sort of illustrate how difficult this issues i was speaking with the republican from a swing state, has a lot of immigrants and dreamers in his own district he was telling me the week before christmas, the moderate group of democrats they get together they try to do bipartisan solution and everybody is at each other's throats. they were supposed town vail an agreement before christmas, it came together they had something, just ended up blowing up, fell through, this just shows that if these people who are moderate democrats, moderate republicans cannot come up with a solution how will the leaders fix this? >> garrett: problem solvers caucus becomes lump of coal caucus. we'll be righted back with our panel. thanks for watching. please join us when we come back.

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obsessively advertised but not yet achieved. then what do you do on domestic side of the ledger and we saw that teased out in this panel as well. very tough lines to be drawn there. help our audience understand what are some of the markers, the deadlines and what are some of the things to watch for? >> well, the first -- >> garrett: if things come together or remain -- >> january 19th, next potential shut down date to good marker how quickly they want to get their in finished business done. >> do you think that will be time where budget will be -- or another month to find more time to negotiate and -- >> if it was to not make too many predictions, i'd say only thing i'd say, if you don't get it done by january 19th, the say recess as next marker. you got lot of things there. again, daca situation. you've got budget caps, how much more will you raise spending by the government.

there's a host of other things. issues with children's health insurance program it's running out of money in several states. and then as mark meadows said, the idea that you might extend permanently the individual tax cuts, do you use this bill as another way to get that done. because there's only so many vehicles that will leave the station, as we like to say, that are guaranteed to pass. try to tack on things for certain people that may be one. >> garrett: already talk of republicans not only trying to make individual tax cuts permanent, but do other technical fixes and do that under reconciliation which is another one of these mechanisms where simple majority is always that way. but simple majority is rarely that way. but you have to pass a budget to do that. to do that you have to get agreement on other things like entitlements and other spendings that republicans are not aligned on. is that something to keep a line on? >> parted of the reason that we didn't get a budget at the end of 2017 because republicans aren't aligned they can't figure

out how to get some of the democrats on board that they would need to get 60 votes in the senate. i think the mode dose' idea is just fascinating that idea of going back and saying, let's make in the tax bill you have permanent tax cuts for corporations, you had tax cuts for individuals that would expire. it would put a lot of pressure on democrats to say, no, to a permanent tax cut extension for individuals. >> garrett: should have all been permanent. >> now the republicans may try to have those democrats put their money on the table, put their cards on the table. even though they are opposed -- >> garrett: what is your sense, david, of the political clout of president trump as he enters 2018, about what it was on inauguration day? >> what's interesting is poll numbers have gone down significant amount in terms of public approval rating. built the way he sort of consolidated some of the levers of power in the white house and

wielded his clout and unpredictable nature, his ability to attack, relentlessly attack his opponents maintains his clout. picked the wrong horse in alabama twice. but the president continues to strike fear into folks who are running for reelection not to get hon his bad side, those on capitol hill want to see the republican agenda move forward. some ways retains more clout than someone with the poll numbers might normally suggest. especially historic lows in the first year. >> garrett: rachel, journalists answer hypothetical questions all the time, politicians do not. imagine we're looking into house republican conference meeting they're all sitting there in their seat. paul ryan says, raise your hand if you want donald trump to campaign with you in 2018. how many hands go up? >> how many hands? i would say about 80 to 90. majority of republicans. >> garrett: really up for grabs or super safe districts because they would love to see

the president there. >> the safe districts for sure. these are the folks who actualle republicans from the safe districts they want to be connected to him at the him, they still love the president and these are republican districts. of course swing states are totally different story, right? the president with ratings going down, didn't want to be near him. >> garrett: 0 seconds, the white house is talking about revamping of the political operation. is it overdue? >> it probably ise hasn't been a political robust operation. it's basically only trump. if he's going on instinct he listen to some people on the outside, less of political advisors on the inside. heading into a year where they're trying to convince the president now that the 2018 mid terms are going to be incredibly consequential. his ability perhaps to finish four years in office. if that message gets through to him i think you will see true

revamp. >> garrett: that is a very big if. thank you so much. we'll be back in a moment with author, best selling author j.d. vance. bob, i don't know where this van is going, but this guy is in a hurry. uh, i was in a hurry this morning. barely had time for breakfast. growl. grumpy! jack's gonna crash your crave hey guys. try my country scrambler plate, with jimmy dean sausage, homestyle potatoes and scrambled eggs mixed with bacon, ham and cheese.

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>> garrett: we sat down with j.d. vance author of "hillbilly elegy." he's been credited with identifying the so-called forgotten americans who helped carry donald trump to his in you can peck victory. a year into the trump administration vance says they might be disappointed the president's rhetoric doesn't match reality. >> i started writing the book back in 201. no one at that time, certainly not me, knew what we were going to see with nominations, of course election of donald trump. definitely thought when the book was coming out, this is june of 2016, hard to believe it's been that long. i felt that lot of folks would be trying to ask questions about who the trump voter was. of course, that's a little bit about what my book is about. i don't mention donald trump but i talk a lot about people, people living in certain part of the country, people from certain demographic segment who did overwhelmingly support the president. both in the nominating contest also of course in the general

election. >> garrett: for that community that you write about in the book, that you grew up in, what do you think the larger truths are that they heard that he spoke to in ways they hadn't heard before? >> one of the most important larger truths that he spoke to is the importance of jobs and the life of the community. if you think about republican rhetoric let's say during the campaign of mitt romney. very folkoused on job creator but not the worker. if you think of the rhetoric of modern democrats, so focused on government that people don't -- i think lot of folks on the left don't appreciate, people don't want to hand out. don't want government support, from the right want people to talk about the noble entrepreneur, what they want people to recognize the dignity of working people. i think that what was genius about politics of trump's campaign that he focused on workers and focused on jobs. it wasn't about the wealthy entrepreneur with the private jet. it wasn't about a government hand out it was about the folks

in the middle. >> garrett: the conversation about the tax bill, for example. he doesn't talk about supply side economics or theory at all. >> when the president talks about tax reform. the people who benefit, talks about american jobs, he talks about the fact that we're going to be taking money that's overseas and bringing it back to the united states so that it will employ american workers. that focus again on american work can in the middle class is to me the most thoughtful and in some ways most genius part of trump's support to politics. >> garrett: there were times when i would laugh when he would say, every dream you've ever dreamed is going to come true. america is going to get back winning again. i thought, even by political standards this is sort of cotton candy, take it to the maximum level. yet having read your book, occurs toe me the concept of putting winning or victory central to it. to people who may be feel like they have become losers or

forgotten. that was much more powerful than i thought or imagined at the time. do you think that's possible? >> i think that sense of loss is really important. idea that 30 or 40 years ago things were really going well and now they started to disintegrate not just work life but our family life, lot of other issues on top of that. >> garrett: do you think there is danger for trump going forward, president going forward and these voters that his rhetoric and their expectations may never match. >> i think that that's certainly that concern, it's a political concern for the trump administration. but it's a concern for american. absolutely, it's a concern for lot of folks who really do expect things to gets a whole lot better. one of the things i really worry about if you don't see middle class wage growth or the economy in certain areas of the country, middle part. country starting to come back in the same way that's doing especially well, say, in california or new york, then people are going to become politically frustrated but more importantly they're going to have a lot of hope dashed, the

sense that maybe this is the moment, this is the electoral moment where lot of our fortunes turn around. that is going to disappear and consequently folks are going to be pretty upset about it. >> garrett: mart of your next phase of life is to deal with this? >> definitely. one of the things that i'm wor working on is this rise initiative, if you look where the net job growth comes, it comes from high growth start-up companies. and unfortunately you don't see a lot of high growth start-up companies outside of california and new york and boston, massachusetts. so what we're trying to do is some way democratize, invest in areas that don't get as much entrepreneurial investing and hopefully start to created some of those new 21st century jobs in places that don't see that job creation. >> garrett: in my travels i've seen a little bit of that in des moines, iowa. a little bit of that in omaha, nebraska. not as if it doesn't exist in the fly over country but you want to accelerate. >> certainly exists.

there is certainly exciting pockets of entrepreneurship. >> garrett: usually linked to a university of some kind. >> universities provide high quality talent," electric towel property necessary to get businesses off the ground but still don't see the afternoon investment in these areas even though you see pockets ever hope. statistic i throw out is 50% of venture capital goes to california. most of the rest of it goes to new york and massachusetts. that means there's 47 states fighting over a very small amount of the type of investment that creates really high quality long-term durable jobs. if you can rearrange that, create more entrepreneurship and more investments in some of these areas, are you going to fix all the problems, no. but you will start to create more high quality job growth. >> garrett: this brings us back to some of the embedded behavioral problems you write about in "hillbilly elegy" those are going to have to change even if this capital arrives. >> yes, that's absolutely right.

>> garrett: you speak wide candidly about laziness and people who think they work but don't actually work that they're part of this equation. that reckoning is going to have to occur, number one, won't be easy to. >> absolutely. you go to a town like middletown, ohio, where some people are trug struggling to find a job then there are people who had a good job and lost it, not based economy was bad but because they made mistakes. you see both types of people. we have to recognize that there are these twin impulses, there is a need for more economic growth, more job growth but is a need for them to recognize that they have a role in making these problems better and we can't ignore that. >> garrett: issue that is really concerning that you have eight million prime age men who dropped out of the labor force, folks who aren't looking for work. you can created job growth all day but unless start to do the things that bring those labor force dropouts back into the job market you're not going to solve the problems i wrote about in the book. >> garrett: thanks for your

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paige that's it for us today. we thank you so much very much for watching go he we wish all of you a very happy and very safe new year, john will be back next week for "face the nation." i'm major garrett. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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