here in the thick of it with me. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching. good morning. i'm dara brown in new york at msnbc world headquarters. it's 7:00 in the east, 4:00 out west. here's what's happening. a provocative report about the language used by the president about immigrants. this morning, the white house is pushing back hard while the president is launching a fresh attack toward the fbi. a reality check on the trump tax cuts. one of my guests will tell me why the american worker will not see all the benefits of this. plus -- >> why are the republicans rushing this through? why are they trying to discredit? mr. mueller? >> the new turns in the russia probe and why some democrats

were excluded from key interviews in the investigation. we begin with politics, and the white house dealing with two major reports this morning. a possible shake-up at the fbi prompted a twitter tirade by president trump. all coming just a couple of hours after that explosive "new york times" report over alleged comments the president made about immigrants. nbc's kelly o'donnell has the latest. >> reporter: the president's fire over immigration. >> we're going to get the wall. and we need it. >> reporter: long frustrated by congress and the courts, rejecting his policies, including a travel ban. >> we don't know who they are. we don't know where they come from. >> reporter: that backdrop is context for a provocative report in "the new york times" that describes a volatile oval office meeting six months ago, where the president and top officials engaged in a heated conversation over how many visas the state department granted to individuals from places like

afghanistan, haiti, and nigeria. according to "the new york times," some, but not all, of their unnamed sources, said the president used derisive language, referring to haitians admitted to the u.s. as having aids, and thousands coming from nigeria would not go back to their, quote, huts. the white house insisted that senior staff actually in the meeting deny these outrageous claims and all the paper's decision to publish sad and telling. on twitter, the president tried to steer attention back to his claims of bias against him at the fbi. taunting deputy director andrew mccabe, top ally of fired director james comey. racing the clock to retire with full benefits, 90 days to go. the president also declared, wow, fbi lawyer james baker reassigned. the justice department says baker was moved out of the fbi's general counsel's office, as new director christopher rey

assembles his own team. the president and his allies have ramped up criticism of the fbi, alleging specific examples of partisan bias. it's a way to try to undercut the bureau's work on the russia investigation. the justice department says deputy director mccabe has not announced plans to retire, but associates say it's long been his intention to exit when he qualified for a full pension in march. dara? >> kelly o'donnell, nbc news white house correspondent reporting there. let's bring in aaron delmore, and jonathan allen for nbc news digital. great to have you both here this morning. >> good morning. >> jonathan, let's pick up from where kelly left off about andrew mccabe leaving the fbi. clearly republicans on these congressional panels could not have been happy this week to hear him corroborate james comey's testimony that president trump asked him for a loyalty pledge. so was mccabe essentially pushed out because republicans were dissatisfied with his answers? >> i think it's becoming a lot

harder for him to do his job because he's got not only republicans in congress but the president of the united states attacking him essentially for not being -- not being loyal or sycophantish to the president of the united states. this is becoming a real problem in our government right now. that the fbi itself is under attack. and certainly individuals within the fbi, some of those who have had long reputations of working in nonpartisan fashion to keep the country safe, to prosecute criminals, are now political footballs, and mccabe certainly is high on that list. >> and erin, at least one republican is sticking up for the fbi in response to these attacks. former congressman joe walsh tweeted, president trump, quit attacking the fbi on twitter, it's wrong and it's going to bite you in the backside. so, erin, do you think that he's talking about consequences for the midterms, or do you think this is a warning more about national security implications as a result of undermining our law enforcement agencies here? >> i think he's one of many

voices in the republican party calling on the president to ramp down this line of attack. now this person is out of office. he's been known for making these colorful comments in the past. but you see among establishment republicans, people who have been in office for a long time, people who don't necessarily embrace the trump brand of republicanism, who are calling on these attacks to just quiet down. they're saying that this is an important investigation that needs to follow its own course. >> and jonathan, talk about the timing of these tweets, attacking andrew mccabe, because smartly after that "new york times" report on the anti-immigration comments, there was this twitter tirade. do you think it's just a coincidence? >> i don't think there's a lot that's just a coincidence. i think the president is certainly upset with the fbi, certainly upset with mccabe. he wants to be in the news. he does not want to be in the news for the comments that he made about people coming in to the country, and you know, look, i think the problem for him is whether or not that's true, and no one is on the record from inside that meeting so far as i know, saying that it's not true, the problem for the president

is, it's believable that he would say these things. and so, you know, that's something he's going to have to deal with. but, it looks like a diversionary tactic for sure. >> and, erin, if you could talk a little bit more about that, because "the new york times" report, nbc has not been tiebl corroborate it. but what kind of impact to these antidotes have considering that the trump administration just suffered another setback with the travel ban? >> well, it's going to be seen if that's something voters are paying attention to. president trump is trying very hard to keep all eyes on tax reform, on this major legislative win he was able to push through before christmas as promised. but reports like this add color and character to a narrative of what is going on in the oval office. and that's something that is going to matter to voters, basically, when it comes down to it in 2018 and beyond. >> and jonathan, what's your take? how damning is this report? >> you know, i think as erin suggests, it just reinforces a narrative about the president being insensitive at any number

of groups, i mean, you know, it's no less insensitive than hillary clinton referring to trump supporters as deplorables when you talk about people, large groups of people in such derogatory terms. and i think that, you know, like i said before, the problem with the president is it's believable, whether or not he actually said the things. and we'll have to see if people from inside that meeting actually come out, rather than the white house saying senior staff who were in the meeting say it isn't true. >> jonathan allen, erin delmore. stay with me. we have much more to talk about. first, $1,000 bonuses and pay raises promised by corporations right after the tax bill passes. were they really sparked by the new law? or is there more to it? we'll take a closer look. hi.

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the box, and boeing and wells fargo and comcast, even though they own nbc, which is not so nice to the presidency or the president, but, comcast also, they all have made tremendous contributions to their employees, and tremendous contributions to spending money on this country because of the tax bill. >> president trump thanking businesses that promised once the tax bill was signed to hand out employee bonuses, and increase their company minimum wage. joining me now is ron insana, cnbc contributor, and ron, good morning. >> good morning. >> how significant is this gesture? >> well, i think if this were to spread wildly and like wildfire, if you will, across corporate america it would be significant insofar as the capital spending that a lot of companies are announcing new investment in plant and equipment for which there is a large tax break, dara. that could be important. i was talking to my colleague melissa lee the other day. every $1,000 spent creates -- i'm sorry, every billion dollars spent creates 7,000 jobs when

you're talking about new plant and equipment investment. so if a lot of companies take advantage of this tax break for investment, particularly in the coming year, it could have an impact on jobs. >> and do you think there's a reason to believe that a lot of companies will take advantage of this? >> yeah, it's a big write-down. you're able to write off the whole capital investment in the first year. so that is effectively going to reduce your tax bill, your effective tax rate will fall below the 21% marginal rate where we sit right now as a result of this tax reform package being passed. so you might see tax rates as low as 12%, 13%, when all is said and done, when businesses take into account the breaks that they're going to get from this new bill. >> so for some of these companies, the initial ones taking advantage of it, it's just not a pr spin. it's a reality going forward. >> if it's additional to their existing capital spending plans, yes. whatever you spend on capital equipment, new plants, new equipment, new systems, you can take a charge against your earnings, and so that lowers your tax bill. but every incremental dollar

spent beyond what's already planned can be helpful to the economy. i think that's where the biggest bang for the buck comes. it's not individuals getting lower rates and modestly lower tax bills, it's the benefits that accrue to corporations. >> and let's take a closer look because at&t says it will make a $1 billion capital investment and give employees a $1,000 bonus. comcast, nbc universal, parent company of msnbc, promising a $50 billion capital investment and a $1,000 employee bonus for some employees. and boeing pledging to make $300 million in employee related and charitable investments. aren't these companies already sitting on piles of cash? didn't at&t just lay off workers this month? >> yeah, at&t i believe has about $13 billion in cash and they're going to pay out $220 million. so listen, it's a nice thing and i'm sure every employee who receives a $1,000 bonus, and i suspect after taxes it will be about $600 and cash, that's going to be helpful. whether or not -- it's not a permanent situation. you're not going to get that $1,000 bonus every year.

and certainly there are companies that do have pressing issues in washington, and it's great pr to say the very least to go forward with raising wages, or handing out bonuses. but it is in the short run going to be a little kick to the economy to the extent that it increases disposable income. >> and last month, president trump kissed a postcard representing a single -- >> good-bye. >> exactly. but this is promised in the new plan and the promise is repeated by ivanka trump this week. let's take a listen. >> really looking forward to doing a lot of traveling in april, when people realize the effect that this has, both on the process of filling out their taxes, the vast majority will be doing so on a single postcard. but also, having experienced the relief that will be starting as early as february. >> did this really become reality? will anyone with a previously detailed tax return be filing on a single postcard? >> a detailed tax return, no. particularly if you're an individual businessman or woman who's got a limited liability

corporation you're still going to be doing the same types of taxes. in fact there could be new loopholes created that your accountant may get very creative with over the next year. if you've done a 1040 es it's going to look pretty much the same in 2018 as it did in 2017. this notion of a postcard has always been something that's been discussed. but it was really referring more to a flat tax where everybody paid let's say 22%, and had absolutely no deductions whatsoever, whether you're an individual or a corporation. that's the only way to get to the postcard-size return. not the current system. which is arguably more complex than the old one. >> and the hill is reporting that this tax law creates new challenges for the irs. is the agency up to the task of putting new regulations in place by february? and are there likely to be lots of loopholes, at least in the beginning of this? >> certainly every accountant that i've talked to so far sigh they're going to be able to drive a truck through the loopholes created by this new bill. so it's not going to get any simpler. in fact, there could be a lot of

loopholes, particularly the wealthy, will be able to take advantage of. the irs has always been wildly underfunded. so it will be a challenge, i think, for them to get entirely up to speed by early next year. although, you know, having said that, filing taxes is something that people do on an automatic basis. there's withholding if you work for a corporation that at least will make the administration of this relatively simple. but even corporations, their accountant, and accountants, and their various departments are going to have to work overtime through the holidays to prepare for january of 2018. >> and, ron, we're talking about this, because this is passed in 2017. >> yep. >> but our april tax returns for 2017 are not going to be changed. >> no. >> this is for the next year going forward, right? >> yeah. you may see lower withholding in your paycheck starting in february but this doesn't affect your tax returns until you file in 2019 for 2018. >> and this plan remains unpopular, say 24% say it's a good idea, and 41% say it's a bad idea. and 66% say that the plan

benefits the wealthy. so what is in it for the lower to middle income earners? and even for small business owners? >> depends how small. if you're an s-corp or a portnership, depending on how much you make there could be some benefits. those are tilted towards people who make over $500,000 or $600,000 in their businesses. the middle and lower income brackets will not necessarily benefit all that much. if you're making $25,000 a year or less, you'll get $60 or $5 a month more. $25,000 to $75,000 you may get something in the neighborhood of 500 bucks which would be again about $40 a month. it's not nothing. but it's not enough to make the economy grow. again, most of the benefits accrue to corporate america, and some then to the wealthiest americans in the country. >> and, ron, some analysts are predicting up to 10% of the stock market growth in the next year. how does that growth, republicans, if they're predicting this, how does that benefit the average american? >> we do have to remember that at least 60% of the country has

some exposure to the stock market through their 401(k)s, through their company pensions or through individual stock ownership. so if the stock market were to go up another 10% and it's up on average 25% this year that helps those people with their savings. the immediate effects if you're a long-term investor, you may feel richer, but you might not act richer. you don't necessarily spend those gains unless you're a wealthy individual who is selling stock. and listen, i think predicting that the stock market after the run that we've had this year is kind of a fool's errand. we'll see. there are going to be some headwinds this year if the economy accelerates. the federal reserve is likely to raise rates more times than currently expected which could slow things down. so i think we'll have to wait and see. and i think the early part of the year will be strong for the stock market. and then we'll have to stasht to deal with some of these other issues. and does the economy overheat. does the fed raise rates more than three or four times. does the tax plan work? does it really goose the economy in such a way that it's very noticeable. the jury is out on 2018. i'm certainly not in the business of predicting stock

prices. it's never been a very profitable experience for a lot of us in the business. >> we'll see what that effects are. thanks for joining me this morning. the president's longtime assistant questioned by members of the house intelligence committee. but only one democrat was there. the controversy surrounding the unusual location for the closed door meeting. next. i accept i don't conquer the mountain like i used to. i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but whatever trail i take, i go for my best. so if there's something better than warfarin, i'll go for that too. eliquis. eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus had less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis had both. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... ...and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding,

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new details on reported efforts by the gop to bring the congressional investigations of russia to a quick end. here's what house intel member mike quigley had to say on msnbc yesterday. >> i feel on a continuing basis that there is increased evidence of obstruction taking place. why are the republicans rushing this through? why are they trying to discredit? mr. mueller. why are they doing any of these things? because the investigation is getting too hot for them. they're not subpoenaing everyone that they should. they're not forcing answers from

key witnesses. they're rushing this investigation. the interviews are taking place on an overlapping basis, often out of state. and they're refusing to bring in certain people who will be important witnesses. >> let's bring back erin and jonathan. when congressman quigley says the investigation is getting too hot for the gop, does he really mean the oval office? when witnesses as close to the president are being questioned? >> absolutely he means for the president. but he also means for the larger republican party now that you're seeing these members of congress attacking robert mueller, attacking fbi deputy director mccabe. i mean, the sort of obvious thing is, it would be really poor strategy to attack robert mueller if you thought he was going to exonerate the president of the united states. and so it sort of raises the question of not only what does the white house think but what do allies on capitol hill think? the ones who have been conducting part of this investigation. and it suggests that they're

very worried about what mueller's going to say. >> and erin, let me play for you what republican congressman francis mooney said yesterday. >> mr. mueller had such a distinguished career and it's been so partisan and compromised, the kind of staff that he picked, and some of the horrible things coming out of the fbi and the department of justice. he picked a team that has given twelve times as much money to democrats as republicans. so it's hardly a balanced team. it's just inevitable that sooner or later some things were going to come out of those people who were so highly partisan, a lot of them worked for hillary clinton. one of them worked for the clinton foundation and eric holder, that's not a balanced investigative team. >> so, erin, here's a loaded question, who's more right? congressman quigley saying the gop is trying to rush because it's getting too hot for them? or congressman rooney saying it's too hot because the investigation is slanted by biased investigators on mueller's team? >> it depends on who you ask and which side of the aisle they're

on. this has become increasingly partisan as the year has kicked on. now if you remember, there are reports that donald trump's inner circle told him that this investigation would be wrapped up by the end of the year. as we see these attacks on the fbi heat up, you can believe that they were expecting this entire process to ramp down. that's something that's going to matter to the president now, as he tries to get through major pieces of his agenda, infrastructure, immigration reform. if all of this is overshadowed by the russia investigation he's bound to grow more restless, as are his allies. >> jonathan, is there consensus what the white house is orchestrating attempts to discredit special counsel robert mueller by using house members to give voice to this effort? >> you know, i think there's sort of the prima facie there that, that this is all happening at the same time, the president is making these attacks. there was a report recently that the -- there's a set of republicans who've been talking about this, who've been in contact with the white house. that's not terribly surprising. any white house that's under

investigation talks to its allies on capitol hill and tries to get them to support the white house. no different than when president clinton was facing the whitewater investigation, or president reagan and iran/contra. that is a normal thing to have happen. what is a little less normal is to see the fbi, and a special counsel -- well, special counsel sometimes, but certainly the fbi of late being attacked is unusual. >> and, erin, there are reports that president donald trump didn't hold a year-end news conference friday because his staffers thought it would be bombarded with the russia questions. so what are you hearing about that? >> well, he did answer some questions of reporters on friday, as he was signing the tax bill. they were able to ask him about the year ahead, what his agenda is like. he said that he doesn't feel he got enough credit on that front. but his aides are going to try to rein in his comments on the russia investigation. everything he says is on the record and can be used later. we've already seen some moments like that trip him up. for instance when his team had to say that a lawyer wrote a

post on twitter. all of these things come back to the president and will be investigated. >> great to have you on this sunday morning, thanks for joining me. and that will do it for me. thanks for watching. at the top of the hour, it is "politics nation" with al sharpton. "your business" is up next.

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