weekend tweets may be making politics a lot more complicated by the minute. new year, new tax code. president trump reportedly telling guests on hand, you all just got a lot richer. it's christmas eve and we'll be tracking your weather as we count down to the holiday. it's been anything but a quiet trip to mar-a-largo. we there were the times headlines about claims made about immigrants. there are reports from the washington post that fbi deputy director andrew mccabe may join the other high profile officials to exit the administration in the year to come. then the president did what his advisors wanted him to avoid by not holding a year end news conference. trump stirring up politics even more. the president tweeting last night about mccabe, questioning campaign donations to a political campaign of his wife and speculating that he had little time left in his tenure.

no top law enforcement officer has publicly to do up for mccabe nor his boss the fbi director who said this earlier this month when the president said the fbi was in tatters. >> there's no finer institution than the fbi and no finer people than the men and women who work there. almost 37,000 men and women with a fierce commitment to protecting the american people and upholding the rule of law, men an women who face the darkest that life has to offer with unyieldsing integrity and honesty and dedication. >> joining me now, msnbc correspondent garrett is in west palm beach, florida. the white house is not backing down from the president's tweet targeting the fbi deputy director. what is the latest?

>> reporter: merry christmas to you. here's what you need to know about andrew mccabe. last week he told a house kbhe -- committee that he would corroborate what james comey has said publicly that the president asked for his loyalty back in that oval office meeting. that thrust mccabe into a national spotlight that he's largely been out of but he's been familiar to folks who follow the virginia local political scene or watch a lot of fox news where the fact his wife ran for a seat no the virginia state senate and received some large donations from pacts connected to the state's governor. a close clinton ally has gotten a lot of attention. the white house director of legislative affairs talked to him again. take a listen. >> he's perhaps the clinton's closest political friend. he gave $700,000 contribution to

mccabe's wife when she was running for office. at the same time they were launching an investigation into heen. the american peop -- hillary clinton. the american people have a need to know that. >> reporter: the idea this money came directly as opposed to pacts he was associated with high pressure he gave money to lots of other daemgt candidates. this puts mccabe at the nexus of the hillary clinton story and russia story. >> speaking of things that get under the president's skin. what is the white house saying about that new york times report claiming the president made some pretty controversial comments about immigrants from haiti and nigeri nigeria. >> reporter: you had that statement from sarah sanders denying reports saying people in the room denied it took place and pushing this back on the new york times for using anonymous

sources. today the only administration figure who has been publicly talking about this has been the aforementioned mark short who was not in the room when this meeting happened. he said people who were this the room tell him it's not true. so far we have not heard from anyone who we know was in that room including secretary tillerson, the new homeland secretary, now chief of staff general kelly. none of those folks physically present have come forward on their own to dispute that account and it will be interesting to see if and when they do or if the white house decides this is not battle they want to fight. >> all right. not a quiet christmas for the president or for you. thanks so much. >> reporter: you bet. >> let's bring in our panel.

in austin president of potamac strategy group. help us put into context where the administration is going into this new year right about now. >> that's a big question. focused on the muddying of the waters. the focus on andrew mccabe is way to further this thing that's been going on where the president and his allies have been trying to raise confusion and muddy the waters around the mueller investigation and other investigations on capitol hill. >> i want to know, the president continues to undermine the fbi top brass as well.

why exactly does he continue to forge ahead with this particular strategy over the holiday season? >> jo, that's an excellent question. i think the lack of scheduling from white house staff, the fact he's in south florida makes it easier for him to watch fox news and engage with the provocative content he sees on fox news. he's responding to what he's watching and his responses are sort of fairly incendiary. >> there was another development this weekend. a federal judge lifting a ban on some refugees and their families. what do you think this means for the president's immigration policies going forward? >> were you asking me that? >> matt.

>> yeah. sorry. this is one of the interesting things that the president has made a real focus on immigration and through the executive branches and executive orders, i think he's had some effect. the travel ban continues to work its wau through the courts. one of the frustrations the president has is he hasn't had legislative success on immigration. i tend to think that will be unlikely in an election year with the possible exception of a deal on daca. i think you'll see legislative action on daca in january. >> i want to get your reaction to some new tougher language

just out from senator jeff flake. he's not a fan of the president. here he is speaking out what he calls the ethno nationalists protection of the republican party. >> what's the risk if the party continues in that direction? the bannon direction? the trump direction? could you lose the senate? >> most definitely. when you look at some of the audiences cheering for republicans sometimes, you look out there and you say, those are the spasms of a dying party. when you look at the lack of diversity sometimes and depends on what you are, obviously, but by in large we're appealing to older white men. there are a limited number of of them. anger and resentiment are not a governing philosophy. >> what do you think about that statement? >> i don't know that i could disagree with that particularly statement. i think republicans have to be a

big tent party that welcomes people in, that understands the changes demographics of the country. that said as it relates to things like trade and immigration, the middle class has been hallowed out over decades. the middle class hasn't seen a pay increase in a long time. it's part of the reason the tax reform is so important. part of how trump was successful was to appeal to white working class voters in the midwest. >> andrew, like to talk to you about the economic impact of what we have seen in first year of the president's term in office.

>> we'll have to see what impact this bill will have. we know that republicans and the president have said they project major economic growth going forward. i think what's going to be key is not just the policy part of this but the politics part of it. we know that in 2018 republicans are going to be trying to save their majorities in both the house and the senate. in terms of legislative action on the economy, we might see an infrastructure package that will require a lot of democratic support given the already slim ha jor majorities they have in the house and senate. in terms of legislation, new things s that might come forwa i think infrastructure will be the big one. >> what has to happen in order

for sfrur to be seriously considered by both parties given the slim majority in the senate. >> mark short was on our air earlier this week and was talking about what he thought it would talk for infrastructure to go through. he said that he expected something to be introduced earlier in the year but he thought it could take all year for an infrastructure package to make it through congress. he's the legislative affairs director for the white house. mitch mcconnell told my colleagues that he does not want to do things in the coming year be way he did in the past year. the vast majority of anything major that happened in the is that the happened with fewer than 60 votes. many things with just 51 votes. it's a big open question in a more bipartisan way.

infrastructure in the past has been bipartisan wu it's not clear whether the way the president and his allies want to do it will be something that democrats are willing to get on board with. >> don't go anywhere. we're going to be joined in a moment by former libertarian former conditioned. president trump and congress didn't just pass tax reform before heading off for the holiday season, we'll also talk about the big boost to the country's missile arsenal later this hour. weather along the east coast is making travel difficult for those you have on the road and in the air. merry christmas. >> we're looking at snow in chicago. already well over an inch on the ground. makes for a pretty picture but not the best for travel weather. then tonight things will get heavy for sthoe in the northeast particularly into new england.

we may have some travel trouble spots. another travel trouble spot we're watch sg the northwest. even seattle seeing wet flakes for christmas. heavy rain along the pacific coast. look for snow to develop in the mountains. this is where we could see substantial snow across the rockies as we go into the christmas holiday. where will we see a white christmas? h pla many places across the country this year. lightly through the rockies and the mountain west and also likely well into areas of western pennsylvania as far as south as there into the mountains of virginia well up to northern new england. this is where we will see plenty of snow on the ground for tomorrow and chance for new york city. more like wet flakes. temperatures are also turning much colder as we go christmas and the final days of 2017.

the numbers are dropping for your morning lows. we have numbers for the single digits and below zero. we'll be looking at some really frigid conditions for those early morning hours across much of the center of the country and even into the northeast. new york city your low temperatures will be dropping down into the teens. stay with us. we'll have a lot more coming up right after the break on msnbc live.

this week congress passed tax reform in what was a major legislative victory for

republicans and president trump. this afternoon cbs news reported the president told friends over dinner you all just got a lot richer. it's the price tag of the plan that still giving some people some sticker shock. tax reform will increase the deficit by nearly $1.5 trillion over the next decade. my next guest says this tax bill is a good first step of many that need to come. welcome, bob. >> thank you opinion gre. great to be with you. >> critics are saying this tax plan will come back to haunt the l republicans. what you expecting? >> i think it will be very helpful to the economy. i think the once working americans receive their paychecks, late in january, and see some reduction in with

holding they will start to raelds this is a good thing. is it is greatest thing since sliced bread? not at all. it will start to take hold as corporations make decisions on terms of highing and inventory and so forth. i don't think it will have major impact. it's going to be more of an overall referendum on whether people think congress has done a good job or whether the president has done a good job. i don't think the tax bill will hurt the republicans. i think it will help them. i don't think it will be the difference between holding on to the house and losing the house. >> it is a major economic story even though tax reform may not go into effect until the year after next, in 2019. i mentioned this report saying the tax plan is going to add nearly 1.5 trillion to the

federal deficit over the next ten years or so. republicans including senator bob corker, they are concerned about this. how should the president tackle this going into the new year? >> i sort of get a kick out of all of these folks, including a lot of conservatives that whine it will increase the deficit. these are the same members of congress in both parties and house that vote for more spending and they wlien about it. i don't put a lot of stock into what bob corker said. both parties when we did balance the current year budget for about four years there, with the exception of those few years, the deficit spending just increases no matter what.

it increased tremendously under president obama. until both parties get serious about cutting spending, it's going to remain a problem. it's not unique to this tax bill. >> one of the big issues on the table is an infrastructure plan. it's something that president trump promised during the campaigns and now that seems to be the next thing up in terms of what the republicans want to do. do you think that all of this will actually impact the feasibility of infrastructure plan in getting republicans to sign onto that given spending? >> it will be difficult pr the president to negotiate with republicans and with democrats. the atmosphere between the white house and the democrats particularly in the senate with chuck schumer has become so

poisonous that i don't know the president will be able to work constructively to get some democrat votes. it will be conservative house member who is will not be inclined to support a multi-hundred dollar long term infrastructure bill. unless the president sort of changes the way he operates on the hill and stops belittling and insulting people, it's going to be very difficult. maybe now that he has the tax bill under his belt, sort of a notch on his belt, so to speak, he will be a little bit more amenable to working with the democrats and maybe chuck schumer will soften up a little bit. unless that happens, it's going to be very difficult to get that bill through. >> i want to you about your

former district. what do you think that race, his approval rating being low, what do you think those elements tell us about the mid terms forecasting into 2018? >> i don't think that these very heavily republican districts are going to be in trouble but there's going to be some dangers for republicans in a lot of swing districts around the country including in california which does not go well for the republicans. in many respects as i saw when i was first collected in 1994, bill clinton's first off year election, the election was not so much a result of individual campaigns as it was a referendum on the president's popularity.

if that is the case in 2018 as well, the republicans are going to be in serious trouble. >> all right. thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate your time. >> my pleasure. next up, we will see -- will we see president trump jump back into campaign modes during those mid term elections we were just talking about or is he going to stay on the side lines. one of republicans most respected strategist says he should just stay off the road. as for the republican ha jorty, senator bernie sanders predicting signs of a wave are mounting. back after this. s >> what we're seeing in alabama, virginia, new jersey and states all across this country are large voter turn outs where people standing up and fighting back and demanding we have a government that respects all of us, not just the 1%. if i were the republicans, i would worry very much about 2018.

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i'm jo ling kent in new york. trump delivering a christmas eve message for american troops stationed around the world this holiday season.

>> as we celebrate this most precious holiday, we're grateful for each of you who spend this christmas away from your families and defend all of our families, our freedoms and our flag. every american heart is thankful to you and we're asking god to watch over you and to watch over your families. >> a federal judge has partially lifted the trump administration's ban on refugees entering the united states. district judge james robart order the federal government to process certain applications for refugee who is have a bona fide relationship to a person or entity in the u.s. fbi deputy director andrew mccabe is set to retire next year. this according to the washington post and the new york times. the move comes months after criticism from republicans in congress and president trump who

clammed mccabe this weekend for allegedly misusing his fbi e-mail account to promote his wife's state senate campaign. nc let's talk about 2018. you may see the president in campaign modes again. he tweeted the republicans remember the republicans are 5-0 in congressional races this year. virginia was not a trumper and he lost. good republican candidates will win big in all all caps. the fake news refuses to talk about how big and our strong our base is. the president has told several advisors he wants to travel extensively and hold rallies during the 2018 mid term season.

already he is tweeting in support of ron desantis. adam putnam is seen by many as the front-runner. carl rove has warned the president about getting too involved this time. >> the president spend 2018 foe focused on his job as president and advancing an agenda that makes a difference in the lives of ordinary americans. he's not very popular. the way to become more popular is become less political and more involved this his agenda. >> what would you tell a republican to do if president trump wants to campaign on his or her campaign in the mid terms

as of right now? >> it starts to answer that question you have to start by knowing whether you're talking about a primary or general election. it's going to depend on where the race is and what are trump's numbers in that state in the midwest or in red states i think trump is helpful. hen his national polling is in the 35 to 38% range he will be limited as to where he can campaign. i would agree with the analysis you just played. he does need to focus on his job in the second year. i think there's chance for some bipartisan legislative accomplishments whether on daca or infrastructure. they might be something on health care. something smaller related to csr payments. it will be interesting to see where he is by june. if his numbers are still in the 30s he will be limited to where he can go. he can fund raise. that would be helpful to the party going forward. so far the rnc raised

tremendously a lot of money. >> it's mostly about money when it comes to midterm races. getting on the air and getting online. are we going to see hard decisions for republican candidates in mid terms? ones who embrace the president fully and looking at a constituency that maybe doesn't embrace the president. >> i suspect they won't be hard decisions. it depends on the district and in swing districts and districts that are suburban and districts where candidates know president trump won't play well, they'll gladly take the money. they are probably not going to want a big rally in their district. there's other states. there are other districts whether president trump as he says, his base is solid. it just depends on where you are in the country. >> alex, what about these races we have just gone through. virginia, alabama, we have a bunch of new results, maybe new

data that you're looking at. how closely are you waiting that as an indicator for the midterms? >> jo, i want to disagree with what matt said and to answer your question. donald trump endorsed roy moore. he endorsed him heavily. he made the rnc go back in there and help that campaign. he lost. it's been more than two decades since alabama has sent a democrat to the senate. that was his race. those were trumpist candidates who lost. and lost quite badly. those should be warning signs. he's not heeding those.

i would be very worried if i were romney mcdaniel. what does this say about the president's power to influence elections? perhaps he's influencing them negatively. it's hard to say right now. it's not looking good for him and for the party. >> what do you think about what alex just said? does the president have a potential for a negative, a down side for some of these republican candidates that were looking to win more moderate districts up for grabs? >> steve bannon is on record saying he wants to recruit primary challengers to every single senate republican aside from ted cruz. that could have disasterous implications for the republican majority in the senate that's already at 51-49.

i think it's going to be up to president trump to decide what voices he wants to listen to. he listened to mitch mcconnell and senate republicans and the gop establishment in washington, d.c. when he chose luther strange in the alabama primary. he had the foresight to realize luther strange was the most likely danlike likely candidate to win that race. going into 2018 the big question for the president will be whether mitch mcconnell can wrangle him back on his side and ensure he doesn't listen to steve bannon. >> on the other side of this election, the democrats are also running for re-election.

we're trying to flip some seats. incumbent democrats, they may have felt the need to cozy up to president trump but with his approval rating where it is, has that changed? what are the democrats looking at here? >> just look at the tax legislation. there were democrats who be president, at least, for a moment was courting, thinking maybe he could get them to vote for it . democrats held firm. every state is different. i think broadly democrats are looking at these races that have happened this year and seeing the republicans have uniformly underperformed the way president trump performed in 2016.

that said the map is not great for democrats in the senate in particular, but on the house side, there's a high level of optimism and a low grade optimism on the senate side too. >> all right. thanks so much. thanks so mump for our entire panel that joined us this hour. thank you all so much and have a very merry christmas. next up, the decision made this past week that could even further escalate tensions between the u.s. and russia. why the kremlin is warning of new bloodshed. every truck guy has their own way of conveying powerful. yeeaaahhh boy. kind of looks like a monster coming to eat ya. holy smokes. that is awesome. strong. you got the basic, and you got the beefy. i just think it looks mean. incredible. no way. i'm getting goosebumps. this holiday season, become part of the chevy family. use your employee discount for everyone and trade up to this silverado all star

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i'm matthew chance. 615th mp company. i want to give a shout out to my wonderful family in miami, florida. everybody have a wonderful holiday. go dolphins. >> nice holiday greetings from our troops overseas. moving onto tensions with the u.s. and russia. russia had a stern warning for the u.s. saying the move will quote cause new plood shed. joining me now to break this down is medal of honor recipient and military analyst jack jacobs. tell us what this move means.

the obama administration never supplied these types of weapons to ukraine. >> these weapons the russians are complaining about are the javelin anti-tank mission. we have given lots of small arms and automatic weapons to ukraine. these weapons are deadly on tanks and russians and their proxies like to use tanks. if there's a spring offensive, these weapons are deadly. it goes to as high as 500 feet and then drops down and attacks the tank from the top where the armor is the thinnest. the russians don't like this very much. that's why you hear them complains about it now. >> why make this move now? how could this impact president trump's desire or seems like his desire to have a better relationship with russia? >> well, he talks about is very much different than what general mattis, the secretary of defense

and general mcmaster of the national security advisor are thinking. they are the ones who structure our national security posture. it sesz tays the two biggest th are china and russia. they are concerned about russian expansionism, chinese expansionism and further more we're going to the winner now, if there's going to be an offensive in ukraine, you can bet it will be in early or late spring. that's why the timing of this is very important. >> on a related note, president trump signed a spending bill friday that includes money from missile defense. here is what he said about it. >> we are ordering $4 billion worth of missile defense equipment and missiles themselves. very important, top of the line, best in the world. we make the best military product in the world.

nobody is even close. >> what specifically will this funding be used for? >> there are two parts to the system. the first are radar installations that pick up early warning of missiles fired and track them. second are the aennti-missiles that are used to shoot them down. at the moment they are not particularly effective and not very many of them. they've hit the target probably around 50% of the time. recognize incoming missiles are extremely difficult to attack even once they are detected. it's very important that we have this shields. so far we fielded only a little bit of what we really like to and make us more secure and thus the expenditure. a lot of technology is evolve too and the expenditures will be for greater technology in those two areas. >> do you think that is related to the threat from north korea? >> it's directly related to the

threat from north korea. i don't think we anticipate an attack from either china or russia. it wo you would be a masive attack in any case. an attack from yee ya might be one or two missiles. the not motivated to attack the united states. we always must be mindful of the potential for mistakes and the mistake would be deadly. that's the principle reason for this system. >> i want to get your reaction quickly on what north korea says what as act of war that was based off the latest u.n. security council sanctions against them. it seems very boilerplate but is there anything new we can tease out of that? >> i don't think there's anything new from that. save said it before. they've said it many times

before. it may be a prescursor for a ne round of tests either missiles or nuke loclear weapons or both. >> thank you for joining us. merry christmas. >> thank you. when we continue, when an election comes down to pure chance. we'll get the latest reporting from virginia where the balance of power in the house of delegates comes down to the luck of the draw. we are not kidding. we're back after this. yes! we got a yes! what does that mean for purchasing? purchase. let's do this. got it. book the flights! hai! si! si! ya! ya! ya! what does that mean for us? we can get stuff. what's it mean for shipping? ship the goods. you're a go! you got the green light. that means go! oh, yeah. start saying yes to your company's best ideas. we're gonna hit our launch date! (scream) thank you! goodbye! let us help with money and know-how, so you can get business done. american express open.

every vote counts in electoral politics, and it is so close in virginia that polls and ballots have now given way to slips of paper and pure chance. democratic candidate shelly simonds stood poised to break the 51-49 republican majority in the virginia house of delegates when she apparently defeated republican incumbent bill yancey by just one single vote. but her victory was short-lived. a court has now ruled that the race was actually a tie, and now the victor will be determined by drawing names from a bowl. seriously, that is what's happening. joining us now to break this down is rima amin, a reporter at "the daily press" in virginia,

who's been closely covering this race. first off, the big drawing is scheduled for wednesday. why exactly does this happen? why does it come down to this? >> so, i guess we can backtrack to the statewide elections on november 7th. the 94th district is a decently competitive race, but i don't think anybody predicted that it would come down to ten votes. delegate david yancey has had that seat for three terms, and on election day, after everything was certified, he beat shelly simonds, his democratic opponent, by ten votes. shelly simonds requested a recount, and so that recount was this tuesday. so, typically, what recount officials do, they go through irregular ballots, or basically, ballots that just aren't filled out properly, and they try to determine, okay, you know, what was the voter's intent. and from that, they determined that she picked up a net of 11 votes, putting her ahead by just one vote.

so, what happens after a recount, a three-judge panel has to certify those results. so on wednesday, they went to court, and in wednesday, a letter was presented from a recount official who said that a vote they decided wouldn't be counted at all actually should have gone to delegate david yancey. so, for hours, the judges deliberated, lawyers argued both sides, and eventually, those judges decided, we're going to count this one, essentially calling a tie in the race. >> so, how exactly is this big decision going to work? i'm hearing film canisters and a bowl? >> yeah, you're almost right there. state law says that tiebreakers in the state of virginia are broken by the state board of elections. and they draw by lots, which basically means you're choosing out of a bag or something like that. so what they've decided to do is put each candidate's name in a film canister, and as you know, film canisters, they're black, they're opaque, so you can't

see. and this is how they actually choose ballot order. but what we've been told is that the glass bowl that they usually put the canisters in has been given away to an old employee -- >> oh, no! >> yeah, well, so they're going to choose out of something that "represents virginia's rich culture and history." so, i don't know. somebody might have gotten the scoop on that, but i've been -- they're trying to keep the surprise. you know, we had a bunch of guesses. one of those was an oyster. >> okay. >> so, i guess we'll see. >> so, i guess what i want to know, then, is what is the statewide, regional, and potentially national impact of of what this comes down to? >> yeah, and i think that's important, because i think that can get lost in kind of the excitement of, oh, it's a tie and it's not -- so, if democrat shelly simonds, if her name gets drawn on wednesday, that means that essentially for now, there will be a 50/50 republican/democrat share of power in the house of

delegates. that hasn't been like that since the year 2000, so for the past 17 years. democrats right now have -- and many of them campaigned on expanding medicaid and doing something about health care. shelly simonds herself campaigned a lot about extra funding for public schools. so, policywise, and i mean, when you have a 50/50 share of power in the house, that can either mean gridlock. >> that's right. >> that can mean people are forced to become bipartisan and kind of share, you know, look across the aisle. so, this really comes down to a single vote deciding which policies are going to catch the spotlight, i guess, in the coming session. >> wow. well, reema amin from "the daily press," great reporting out there in virginia. thank you. we'll be watching next week. >> thank you. now, was it a comet? an alien invasion? santa getting an early start on his rounds? residents of southern california were left to wonder exactly what

they were seeing friday night when a shimmering, ghostly trail lit up the sky above l.a. it was actually a spacex rocket taking off from an air force base in santa barbara. spacex ceo elon musk stoked the flames on twitter, tweeting "nuclear alien ufo from north korea," but that wasn't the only thing soaring through the air this weekend. we want to show you what the big guy is up to here on christmas eve. norad's santa tracker. and i believe he is over -- i can't quite see -- headed to turkey right now, i'm told by our executive producer, and we are watching him make his way with his reindeer to deliver presents all around the world. and the president next hour is set to talk to norad about santa, and we will, of course, be watching that. thank you so much for joining us this hour. there is much more to come this afternoon. richard lui picks up our coverage coming up at the top of the hour. msnbc will be back right after

this.

hello, everyone. i'm richard lui at msnbc headquarters in new york city on this sunday. good day to you. president trump may be seeking some relaxation at the winter white house this holiday weekend, but he is back to tweeting and stirring up more controversy. and we approach the new year. yep, republicans growing more concerned about the midterms, though. what the tea leaves are telling them makes them believe they could lose control o