do i think they could have done better for the middle class? i do. do i think they could have done better for the working poor?

>> a ruby red state. >> people are not happy with us being small, angry and narrow. they are starting to say no. >> roy moore vows to fight on. >> i'll be ready to go regardless of whether he concedes or not. >> would you vote for or against this bill? >> i haven't had a real chance to look at that and study it. >> immigration. >> i'll have to look. >> congratulations on your 25th anniversary. all right. thank you so much. >> welcome back to the second hour of "kasie dc." welcome, amisha, washington white house reporter and msnbc political analyst ashley parker. white house correspondent jeff bennett and former fbi special agent and nbc news and msnbc national security analyst clint watts. honored to have you all here. we showed a little bit about the tax reform at the top but there's this bubbling controversy over what people are

calling the corker kickback. he wrote a letter to the chairman of the finance committee responding to this. there was a report in the international times about it. he said he received a call from a reporter and there was a suggestion that it was airdropped into the conference without prior consideration and this, of course, the premise of this story is that the last-minute change will benefit bob corker's personal bottom line because he has ownership stakes in some major real estate companies. this seems to me like a last-minute push to show -- i mean, they do need bob corker to vote for this. >> they would essentially need bob corker to vote for this. the other thing going on is this is a tax break for people with large commercial real estate holdings. any other americans may be out there thinking there are real

estate holdings but the president obviously has this and corker, of course, was someone who was not a yes before and now he is. he's been trying to clear himself as someone critical of the president to say we need an answer to this and need to explain what is going on here. and here's a prime example of how you might benefit. >> right. he says here, because of the many sensitivities clarity on this issue is very important and i hope you'll respond in an ex pid delicious manner. >> remember when marco rubio flipped from no to yes, when bob corker did it there was this and what was this incentive to do it and now, of course, we may have found out what the incentive was. >> i guess we will see. bob corker seems to be suggesting any suggestion that he had anything to do with the insertion of this absolutely no collusion, he insists. clint, i want to start with you

here. partially to help explain what is the significance here of e-mails and they obtained them through some sort of criminal process or subpoena or something like that but what is it that they could have possibly learned and why would the trump transition team be so stressed out about the possibility that he has them? >> everything that we've been talking about in terms of the relationship with russia as regards to the trump team really happened during this transition period. if you look back going all the way through the campaign period to the post election period but before inauguration, this is when all of the communications would be happening.

if you look back going all the way through the campaign period to the post election period but before inauguration, this is when all of the communications would be happening. what is interesting is it seems like the trump personnel that moved from the campaign into the white house somehow thought that their communications were privileged when they are not. president trump isn't the president until inauguration

day. so you've got a misunderstanding on the part of the trump people which begs the question why are they nervous about this. but it was a natural process that the mueller investigation was going to go through. they are going to go through that transition period so this should have been expected and not at all surprised. >> what do you think drove the decision to put out a statement and mueller's team very rarely says anything. and some far afield frommed it point of the investigation and they've decided to say something in public. do you know why? >> that's probably the only time they will level the smears against the mueller team. they are trying to set a baseline of fact and fiction so they can get ahead of the narratives being shaped beyond their control. one of the dangers is if it's the fbi or mueller investigation or cia, you can't really fight back with accusations being leveled at you but you can set

the record straight. i think what they are probably trying to do is not let this get out of control like we saw last week where there was speculation on one side or one party is using it as a weapon against the other and say this is why we did this and what it relates to so you have some sort of bearing for the public to take in the news and for it to occur this week. >> they are trying to undermine the credibility of the it to set it up in a political way. i feel like republicans were saying to let mueller do his job, he's fine. >> and since the day michael flynn set the deal to cooperate with them. he said that the transition team thought that their e-mails were privileged. that's certainly the case. i talked to the attorney who wrote that seven-page complaint

letter and they contend that they met with the then general counsel of the gsa back in june and that at that meeting, general counsel told them that if anyone asks for access to the e-mails, they would make the determination of kwha they wanted to do and that's why they say that the gsa properly -- >> so they got that advice? >> yes. they control their stuff and the gsa, the custodian of the trust. but the way they found out that mueller's team got access to the e-mails is that it showed up in the russia probe and that people were being questioned about things that they only could have known by having access to the e-mails. >> and this included things about jared kushner, which seems to be a central concern. >> yes. why is why i think this probe has gotten president trump and

supporters of him very nervous because he always said he wanted to be very narrow and only about financials and what you're seeing now is the investigation touching off on not only his kids but his son-in-law and sources that i talk to say that these things can just spin. we're talking about people with very complex financials and this could kind of go in any direction. >> what's your sense of what kind of trouble kushner is in? >> well, his lawyers has repeatedly said that he's in no jeopardy and fully cooperating. when i interviewed him a while ago, he said he has no plans of leaving washington. she recently asked if she should be looking for a new home, which speaks to their state of home and there are a number of people in the administration who think kushner should be in a lot of jeopardy because of his role in the administration and if you just get out of the white house, he would be fine. if he feels like he's here to say, it backs up what his lawyers are saying but if you

look at the number of things that the mueller people are being looking at, he was doing everything, especially during the transition. >> right. jack of all trades. one key part of this that we haven't talked about too much is the role of the fbi and the agents on mueller's team. after tweeting that the fbi was in, quote, tatters, the worst in history last week, trump said this shortly before believing to speak at the fbi academy. >> it's a shame what happened to the fbi. we're going to rebuild it but it's very sad when you look at those documents and how they've done that is really, really disgraceful and you have a lot of very angry people seeing it. it's a very sad thing to watch. >> but exactly one hour later,

here he is speaking in front of law enforcement officers. >> being a police officer is not just a career. it's the calling. and i've seen it. i have so many friends that are police officers. so many people in the fbi. these are great, great people. these are really heroes for all of us. so thank you very much. >> clint watts, what is your sense of how this is being received by the fbi and we haven't talked at length about this but the text messages that were exchanged, that have kind of caused some of the political angst around the mueller investigation, what's your view of how important that is? >> i assume he got awareness of the issue and that points to the professionalism of mueller. what i love about president trump's comment about making the fbi bigger and better, we actually did that after 911 and

that was director fbi who made it big are and better. in one sense he's battering the mueller investigation and he's talking about making changes and 30 minutes later he's down in quantico and ultimately the damage is to the institution. and if you're trying to do an investigation, criminal white collar, violent crimes, counterterrorism, do you think those guys are going to help you or support you or have sources that are really trusting the fbi? it really does remarkable damage to our federal law enforcement with comments like that. >> jeff bennett, were you surprised at what the president said when he said there was no collusion and he was not going to fire mueller? >> i wasn't surprised because he

has said that in the past. the difficultly with president trump is he can say this on a sunday night and then tomorrow night say something entirely different. but i was not struck at all to hear the president say that there was no collusion, i'm not going to fire bob mueller. >> ashley, do you think it's going to wrap up soon, et cetera? >> i think he is. a number of people close to him say they think ty cobb is incorrect. they don't think he's lying but that his assessment of the situation is wrong and they are worried that the president is engaging in magical thinking. ty cobb has been given a clear ending which is the end of the

year. the interesting time to check back to see if the president still believes him is january 1st, january 2nd. >> if we get that far. all right. a lot more to come coming up in this next hour. the dnc is getting a taste of momentum. deputy chair keith ellison is joining me and carly fiorina will speak about tax reform and sexual harassment and the culture in washington. you're watching "kasie dc."

democrats are riding high after wins in alabama's special senate election and last month's virginia governor's race. but tonight there's a new reason for them to be optimistic heading into next year's midterm elections. our brand-new "wall street journal" poll finds 50% of registered voters want democrats to control congress. that's compared to 39% who want republicans to stay in charge. joining me now, minnesota democratic congressman and deputy chair of the dnc keith ellison. thanks for coming back on the show. really appreciate it. >> of course. >> my question for you is, do you think that these results in virginia and alabama are papering over in some ways the divisions within the democratic party?

or do you think that this is a stunning win in a southern state that nobody expected. do you think the winds are strong enough that those divisions are not going to matter? >> i think that any functional party has people within it who are unified on the values but have different ideas about how to get there. that's not a bad thing. it's okay. we had a great community process last week and came out with a lot of core agreement that those unity commissioned ideas are going to go to the rules committee and i believe we're going to come out with a stronger, more transparent, more open, more delicate and voter focused than ever. we put a lot of money and trained people on the ground in virginia and also we're proud of getting -- making history in a lot of places with all of the delegates that were elected to the house of delegates in virginia. we really went down ballot, kasie. we didn't win the top ticket.

we went down ballot and we're most proud of that. and if you look at fayetteville and other parts of the city, our promise to work up and down the ticket, we see it being fulfilled. and we believe we have grassroots energy. >> you brought up the unity commission which is in response to some of the discord that you all experienced in 2016. >> right. >> i want to play a little bit of what tim kaine had to say about that and the elections in virginia and then we'll talk about it. take a look. >> you bet.

>> the virginia race last month, we were all pulling together. we have a tough primary for governor on the other side and then in the week before the race, they were having a firing squad about whether the 2016 election was rigged. the problem that dems have right now is that president trump is unpopular. >> how do you avoid that? >> well, i just have a different take. my take is that it's natural and normal where people have the right to offer their views that people will offer those views and those views won't always be the same. it's okay. as democrats, we believe in coming together and i think the national part of the dnc, we are organizing. we are on the ground and making historic investments in technology and investing up and down the ticket and going all over. we're strengthening every single state party. so i just think that we are heading in the right direction.

i don't think me or tom perez believes that we're done. we've got a lot of work to do. everybody knows that. but the fact is, things are going in the right direction and i'm excited. you know, i tell you, i was in texas over the weekend and just the spirit is all over the place and i feel that we're not just planning for next election, we're playing for the next two or three decades as we make these core investments which i think will pay off more and more. >> congressman, you voted in favor of a resolution that would impeach the house of representatives and your leadership voted against it. do you think the dnc should say that they will advocate for the impeachment of the president? >> kasie, if you asked me to vote yes or no, i'm going to vote yes because i think president trump has done enough things to deserve it.

but you need 218 votes to pass a bill. so let's just let the mueller process work its way through. let's continue to build the case. let's continue to find the evidence no matter where it leads. the fact is that if -- i would never be the one to bring that resolution but if you put it on the floor, you know, i had to vote my conscience. i don't think this is anything to be too concerned about. mueller is doing a thorough investigation. he's asking the questions. he's obtained the cooperation where he needs it and i, for one, think that we just need to continue to support that investigation and to resist those people who try to undermine the investigation. we feed to have a process that is allowed to move forward and find the evidence where it may be, whatever it is. >> do you think that bernie sanders should run for president again in 2020?

>> you know, bernie's a great friend of mine. i supported him last time. as dnc officer, i cannot longer advocate for anyone in the primary. >> let me ask you about an issue that i know that has been important to you and that has been in the news this week. that's net neutrality. there was a major decision in the fcc. >> terrible. >> what do you think are the next steps? are there any options in congress? there are some republican who is have criticized the decision that the fcc made. do you see room for bipartisan cooperation here? >> you know, we're always looking for help to protect an open internet. the internet was started out with public money with a grant that is a defense grant and built up by -- with public support and to now close it off and to let the biggest commercial interest exploit it, throttle and block people, i think it's a travesty. this is a tremendous commissioner of the fcc and she has been speaking all over. she's trying to help the american people have access.

you know, the vote of the fcc, those three commissioners who voted to basically open it up for commercial exploitation and close it down for people, that was wrong. now, we're going to be looking for allies wherever we can find them to try to say that the internet is going to stay open and that we'll be able to have the new entrepreneurs, activists who want to be on the internet and communicate and can be there but i tell you, we have seen already the dangers of throttling and blocking on the internet and we have to resist it. so we're going to stay for an open internet. that's what we're going to do. >> congressman keith ellison, thank you very much. talk to you soon. >> all right. into when we continue, my conversation with carly fiorina on the rapidly evolving culture for women in washington and what

is next for her. "kasie dc" is back after this.

welcome back to "kasie dc." we have a new statement from the office of the doctor treating senator john mccain who, of course, has been hospitalized at walter reid this week. he says he has responded well and had a viral infection. that's a new information about what was going on with senator mccain's health. the doctor says an evaluation of

his underlying cancer showing that he's responding positively. there's a statement from john mccain when they initially announced his condition. we also have a new statement from his office. they say senator mccain has returned to arizona and will undergo physical therapy and rehabilitation at the mayo clinic. so this answers that question of whether senator mccain is going to be in washington for the tax reform vote. it says that he'll be returning in january. so it seems like at this point they don't need his vote on the tax reform bill but, of course, everybody hoping that this is something that eventually the senator will be back and at work in the senate. >> yeah. he's someone that when he walks around the capitol, there's a real aura around him and i think they are more gracious with him and everyone is kind of rooting for you whether you're a democrat or republican. it's tough to know that he's

been flying back and forth while trying to battle this. it's good for republicans to say you can say at home we've got this but also tells me as a reporter that we're going to see a good vote on tax reform in favor of republicans. >> certainly his sense of humor and presence is one that is impossible to miss in the halls of congress and here's to hoping that he'll be back to yell at me or any of us asking a stupid question. >> or chase. >> exactly. our interview with carly fiorina is coming up next. we'll be right back.

welcome back to "kasie dc." the future of the republican party is an open question right now and one of the people who has tried to bring that into some focus has been carly fiorina, the former presidential candidate now chairman of the unlocking potential foundation. senator, thank you for being here tonight. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. >> let's start with the most basic of questions. you ran in a wide-open field and you were a little by yourself as the woman who was running and you took incoming heat from now president donald trump and we've seen that continue in office. how do you think the president is treating women as president of the united states? >> i think what we're finding out is that there are a whole bunch of people in positions of

power and authority who treat women terribly. a whole bunch of people. a whole bunch of men. i think what we're also finding out, whether it's harvey weinstein or roger ailes or charlie rose or con conyers, i think what we're also finding out is people knew it was going on and so while i don't condone in any way what donald trump did -- >> do you think he's being singled out? >> i think we have overlooked a lot of people's behavior. we've overlooked previous president's behavior. >> what does that say about that? >> here's what i actually think it says. i think george washington said it best, honestly. seriously. >> okay. >> a long time ago, george washington said beware of the rise of political parties because they will come to care only about winning and they won't care about governing or problem solving or values and i think politics has become about winning at all costs so i think what you see happening in both

parties over many years is people don't care what it takes to win, they just want to win. >> what do you think of the democratic calls for the president to step down? is kristen gillibrand wrong about that? >> i think it's purely politics. >> where was she when it was going on? my point is that just like republicans, let me be an equal opportunity employer here. republicans talk about how terrible it was that barack obama plays golf and now that donald trump does, not so much. democrats talk about how terrible it is that donald trump has said bad things about women but when democrats were actually abusing women, not so much. the point is, hypocrisy is a bipartisan affliction. and both parties, both parties

and politicians in both parties care more about winning than almost anything else and i think it's one of the reasons why people, citizens, every day americans get so tired of politics and politicians because there has to be something more here than winning. actually, maybe it should be about serving, problem solving and leading. >> let me show you -- we just had it on the screen briefly. president trump tweeted at kristen gillibrand after all of this back and forth and used a very sexist -- he says here, she would come to my office begging for campaign contributions not so long ago and would do anything for them. what do you say to that? >> totally inappropriate. totally inappropriate. and by the way, you'll recall, i have not been shy about calling this president out, not after "access hollywood," not after what he said to me. it's totally inappropriate. and more than that, itself-destructive.

guess what that did for kristen gillibrand. it helped her raise money and her profile. if donald trump is concerned about keeping republicans in office, he should quit tweeting things like that at kirsten gillibrand. >> let me ask you about your new initiative. you have a lot of leadership experience across corporate america. what is it that you're driving into now and i was looking at what you were talking to groups about leadership. how much of that is what we need to see from women stepping into the leadership from? >> well, first let me say that from a lifetime of experience at the corporate world and nonprofit world and even in the policy and political world, i've learned this. everyone is capable of being a leader and that has nothing to do with your position. we have a lot of people in big power who don't lead and many are politicians in both parties but the fundamentals of leadership, the character, the

courage, the collaboration and problem-solving, those are characteristics of us all. yes, we would be better if more people would lead men and women. >> how do you grade the leadership skills of republicans on the hill passing this massive tax reform package? >> well, hey, let's give them credit. they've gotten it past. i think it's progress. it's a step in the right direction. we needed to cut taxes. we needed to cut taxes on businesses. we needed to help small businesses. we needed to help working families. is it everything i would have asked for? no. i don't think it simplifies the tax bill enough. i think it's too bad that benefits to big businesses are permanent and benefits to families are not but it's a step in the right direction and sometimes you have to settle for progress, not perfection. >> let me ask you, i'm curious, i'm based here in washington and

it strits me there's a reckoning going on in general with how the technologies are impacting our society but also with sectionism sexism within the silicon valley. what would you say to the young men leading these companies? >> well, first of all, yes, there's a reckoning and there's a reckoning on two fronts. number one, these companies facebook, google, amazon, they have such incredible power now. they have consolidated so much power and so they have to recognize that they don't get to act with the same unfettered freedom that a $3 million startup does. that's part of accepting the responsibility of having so much impact and power. the second thing i would say, silicon valley stands up and says we're so proud of our diversity. they're not diverse. they have a long way to go and i

will say, having built americrocity. >> carly fiorina, thank you, appreciate you coming in.

i don't know if you know this, but as of now on the internet, there's about 14 females accusing you of sexually inappropriate conduct. >> what? >> oh, yes, jeff. there are detailed accounts being posted right now of you having sexually inappropriate behavior with fellow staff members and guests of your show. would you like to respond to those allegations? >> i don't really know what is going on right now. >> no time to respond, jeff. see what is happening? >> life imitating art in the culinary world. celebrity chef mario batali was fired after he was accused of sexual misconduct. his apology letter is getting slammed for also including a cinnamon roll recipe. ken friedman and john besch have been accused of sexual harassment by the women who

worked for them. besch says it was a consensual relationship with an employee and at friedman's restaurant, the spotted pig, one room was named the rape room, according to "the new york times." and "assessing a woman as a body rather than as a person with a mind, character and talent denies the full measure of her humanity. it's wrong and it demeans us all. real men don't need to be told this." joining me now is tom from bravo's "top chef." tom, it's great to see you. thank you for taking time to be with us tonight. how would you describe this problem in the restaurant industry? we've been grappling with it here in washington and on capitol hill and i think elsewhere in media industries. it's often been described as an open secret.

is that how it is in the restaurant business as well? >> well, listen, sexual harassment is rampant through our culture. so, yeah, i actually tweeted after the issue broke with mario batali that no one should be surprised and i made that comment because it was well documented in a 2006 book "heat" and, also, it was an ongoing investigation by "the washington post" by "the new york times" and also eater that was also pretty well known and it wasn't a secret in our industry. so that's why i made that comment. what you're seeing in the restaurant industry is a reflection of what is happening in our culture. >> what do you think is the best way to combat this? the restaurant industry? what needs to change? do you see a world in which it can change in. >> yeah, i do. again, i think what we're seeing right now is that women are

finding a voice and they are finding a voice because they actually find that they have power when they speak up.

every bit as much to contribute and they have a right to make a living. >> chef tom colliio thank you for taking the time to join us tonight. >> thanks, casey. i want to talk briefly to there is a new piece out tonight in politico and misha you've done a lot of work on this as have i, talking about the

rampant speculation who may be the next to fall in congress and some of this is focused on chuck schumer was the subject of essentially a fake harassment lawsuit this week and it seems like that fear has come spreading on capitol hill. >> i think there's this idea there are men who haven't sexually harassed people terrified they have to fight an allegation that's not true and also the idea there are a lot of men wondering their baggage what they've said to a woman, they're reassessing all the different things they said to a woman. when you talk to advocates they want that. that's a good thing men are thinking how am i speaking to women? that's part of why the movement is happening. >> for sure. we're back in just a few with what to watch for. some air fresheners are so overwhelming, they can... send you and your family running. introducing febreze one for fabric and air.

no aerosols. no dyes. no heavy perfumes. it cleans away odors for a pure light freshness... so you can spray and stay. febreze one, breathe happy.

before we go, one last thought from all of our panelists and what to watch for, for the week ahead. jeff benet? >> white house departures would be rex tillerson, the embattled secretary of state. the white house has tried to knock down the reporting about an exit plan, exit strategy for rex tillerson. keep his name atop the list and mark short, the president's top, sorry, no the mark short, gary kohn, the president's national

economics adviser, who butted heads with the president over the president's controversial comments about charlottesville, took himself out of the running. >> wash #yourefired. >> daca, advocates pushing for government shutdown. i'm not sure democrats have it in them to do that. on what i'm watching, our new dog watching the show at home tonight, keep sending your photos, i love them, they're a favorite. second of all here is what i am watching for a wedding date from ashley parker, close friend of the show and michael bender who got engaged yesterday. it was great to celebrate with all of them, and ashley, i will not put you on the spot by asking if you set a date yet. what are you watching for next week? >> uhm, i am watching for the president leaving to go to mar-a-lago where he's unfettered, where aides are able to get to him and he often comes back with different sort of ideas in his head we get to

watch play out in the new year. >> for sure. so congratulations, ashley. >> thank you. >> very excited. >> we are off on christmas eve, this morning, thousands of passengers stranded at tlantd. power has been restored, but more flight cancellations this morning. plus dispute over e-mail. accusing a government agency to handing over e-mails to mueller and mueller's team is defending their work. the thomas fire has been raging two weeks. firefighters battle to gain the upper hand. blaze has become one of the largest in california history.