eve. happy new year. >> hello, everyone. i'm david gura. deadly protests. at least two protesters killed in iran in demonstrations over the country's economy. what's at stake as tensions flare? twitter storm. president trump attacking in a barrage of end of year tweets. how the president is closing out his 2017 on social media. clearer picture with the russia investigation showing no signs of slowing down. new reports shed new light on what may have prompted the probe. happy new year. low temperatures and high security will be hallmarks of celebrations across the country revellers police presence. the president of iran is addressing his divided nation as clashes break out there. reports that two people are dead, although the government blames foreign agents and now the government is cracking down on social media and popular messaging apps.

let's bring in matt bradley. matt, let me ask you, what we know at this point to the extent of the protests and what has brought them about. >> well, so far, david, we don't have much information because, of course, this is happening in iran and almost a closed box for those of us on the outside. what we are getting, we are getting from social media and the iranian government knows that and has now cracked down on some of the more popular social media mediums. what we have seen is a renewal of protests later on today. and, apparently, the government appears to be going on the offensive against these protesters and that's just as they go into their fourth day of protesting and just as president trump delivers his fourth tweet on that situation in the islamic republic. the breaking news rights now, david. the president has just broken his silence for the first time in four days since this whole

flare up started. they had the right to protest but not the and even took a swipe at president donald trump who has been tweeting about this. he didn't name him but those who called iranian terrorists have no business sympathizing with our nation. and this was only hours before iran's president defended the right to protest the iranian government announced that it was actually, as i mentioned, suspending social media services, mostly instagram and a service called telegram. which is kind of like what's up. but very hidden and very protected and very popular in iran. so, came hours after the interior minister warned that protesters would, quote, pay the price for their violence. different warnings from different sides of the government and this increasingly firm government reaction comes as the unrest in iran has spiked and will probably continue for at least a little while longer. dave snud. >> matt, appreciate the update,

thank you very much. already this chapter is drawing reaction from senator bernie sanders of vermont voicing his support for the iranian people to speak out against the government. some republicans are going a step further calling for the president to draw a line in the sand. today senator lindsey graham of south carolina called on the president to make a nationwide address. >> tells us that the obama approach of relieving sanctions, hoping the regime would moderate has failed. the people are not getting the benefit of sanctions relief. they're more upset where their oppressors than ever. the money from sanction relief has gone into rebuilding the iranian military and destabilizing mideast. it's not enough to watch, president trump is tweeting very sympathetically to the iranian people but you can't just tweet here. you have to lay out a plan. if i were president trump, i would lay out a plan as to how i would engage the regime. >> joining me, the director of the future iran initiative in

d.c. and also the author of "bitter friends." long-time newsweek correspondent covered iran and now the editor of iranwire.com. instrumental in bringing to light a lot of the videos from the ground in iran. he writes in "washington post" this morning, is it a revolution? not yet. iran's government is its own worst enemy and economic woes can bring down this corrupt and brutal system. how are you interpreting what is going on here in iran? what are you watching for? >> i'm certainly watching to see whether the protests continue and whether they get larger and whether there's violence and the government cracks down in a violent way. so far we know of two people who were killed and we're not quite at the stage we were in 2009, which was the last time that iran experienced large protest. those were mostly in tehran and followed tainted elections. we're not there yet. this is a different kind of

phenomenon. i think it's very important that we watch this patiently. that we urge the government to exercise restraint. but that the united states does not get in the way of the iranian people. >> help us with the broader historical context here. you mention 2009. give us some of the sense of the protest culture inside iran and what you're watching for in how the iranian government responds to what we've seen. >> a robust history of protest. people have engaged in mass protest since the 19th century. iran had the first constitutional revolution in the middle east back in 1906. and, of course, the 1979 islamic revolution. so, mass protests is not something new. iranians actually enjoyed coming out in the streets and they use almost every opportunity whether it's a soccer victory or a religious holiday to come out in the streets, election results often bring people into the streets. this is not new. what is new is some of the slogans that people are chanting. it began with economic

grievances. inflation is creeping up, again. prices are going up. the iran nuclear deal has not provided the benefits that peephole hoped for that they have been led to expect. that is partly because of the trump administration. it's not entirely iranianf morp political slogans directed against the supreme leader of the country. the clerics who are really in charge and that's, of course, something that we need to watch. i think it's great that rahani and he is betting that these will die down over a couple days if the government does not overreact. >> barbara, i'll ask you lastly about the debate playing out in the united states and dealt with iranian-american relations or the lack there of and coming out and talk about what happened during obama administration or before. how things are different now. what do you make of that? that svigorous, that debate tha we're seeing now?

>> it is really irrelevant and donald trump is irrelevant to what is going on in iran, except so far he made the economic situation worse by questioning the nuclear deal, for example. if we really want to help the iranians, we need to encourage the government not to be too oppressive and end the travel ban which was completely unwarranted and tremendous distrust of the trump administration within iran. i think this is for iranians to sort out and we have to hope that the society reforms and does not become more repressive. >> barbara, thank you for the time. >> my pleasure. garrett hakke is with the president. what does the president have to say about what we've seen in

iran? >> unclear if the president is following it that closely this morning. he's back at his golf club again this morning. although the white house isn't commenting on what he's been doing there. you mentioned the tweets. the president has been very engaged over the last 24 hours or so on social media with this crisis. pointing out in several different ways that the world will be watching the iranian regime. that the united states will be watching and that the basic human rights of those in iran need to be stood up for. one of the things that he or someone operating his twitter account posted earlier this week or earlier in the last 24 hours or so since this crisis has accelerated in iran has been to point back towards a speech that the president gave in september, in which he attempted to drive a little bit of a wedge between the iranian people and the iranian regime. i think it's important in this context to review some of that speech, if we can. >> the longest suffering victims of iran's leaders are, in fact, its own people.

oppressive regimes cannot endure forever and the day will come when the people will face a choice. will they continue down the path of poverty, bloodshed and terror? or will the iranian people return to the nation's proud roots as a center of civilization, culture and wealth where their people can be happy and prosperous, once again. >> so, david, the choice that this white house will have to make sooner rather than later is to pursue a path like lindsey graham of the united states getting involved in this crisis in iran in a more proactive way or whether it's best to let it play out for iranians to decide without the u.s. laying too heavy of a hand beyond the social media we've seen from the white house. no overt hints yet which way they're leaning. >> that's garrett haake.

as we prepare to enter 2018, president trump is having trouble that have been hanging over him since he became president. the infamous dossier, the "new york times" reported this story. former trump campaign foreign adviser george papadopoulos devulaged that russia had political dirt on hillary clinton. according to "the times" report australian officials shared that information with their counterparts and foreign american officials with direct knowledge of the australian's role. the white house has responded to that report in "new york times" saying, quote out of respect for the special counsel and his process, we're not commenting and help complete their inquiry expeditiously. four members of the trump campaign has downplayed the role of papadopoulos. in one case refer to him as a coffee boy. one of the authors of that new report on papadopoulos "new york

times" matt and bureau chief for "washington times" and co-host virginia here with me in new york. matt, let me start with you and let's start with the dossier. we saw the president reference this most recently on twitter. fox and friends twitting dossier is bogus. fbi cannot, after all this time, verify claims in russia, fbi tainted. he continued and they used this crooked hillary pile of gakage as the basis for going after the trump campaign. but, let me ask you about the role of the dossier in light of what you found in your reporting. how much has it diminished? >> the president was right when he said the dossier was largely funded by the hillary clinton campai campaign. you know, i don't think it is discredited as much as it is uncorroborated at this point. but, look, when the fbi opened

its investigation in late july of 2016, it opened largely based on two things. the fact that democratic e-mails had been hacked and released publicly by russian intelligence agents and the fact that there was this evidence coming from one of our closest allies, australia, that a member of the trump campaign indicated the possibility that the trump campaign knew about this in advance. when you combine those two things together and then you have carter page going to moscow where we know he was suspected of talking with a russian intelligence officer, you can see why the hallmarks for opening investigation were right there. >> david lotter, we heard from david inunez a big folks for hi dealing with the dossier. how does this change things for him, do you think? >> well, for nunez and for the republicans who have been following the same line, this is a problem because the more they have been able to focus attention on the dossier, which

has a lot of solacish charges, the more they can paint the mueller investigation as a democratic inspired whiitch-hun as the white house likes to put it. when you focus on papadopoulos and on the australians and on what's actually a counterintelligence investigation, becomes much harder to do that kind of discrediting and it puts nunez and his colleagues in a position of making it look like they're trying to distract from a much more serious investigation. one that has involved the fbi for a long time. going back even before the election. and that tends to undercut the case that they have been trying to build that the investigation is somehow ilegitimate. >> matt, what did you learn about the role that george papadopoulos played in this campaign? you referred to him as brass and unqualified and he was

unsuccessful during the course of the campaign. what new did you learn about the role that he played? >> the idea that he was just a coffee boy is gone. this is somebody who was making efforts to connect the trump campaign with russia and was in touch with senior officials in the campaign all the way through the election. now, let's not overstate what he was. this guy was not running the campaign. he did not have the year of the president by any stretch. but this was somebody who was clearly targeted pie russian intelligence officers as part of an influence campaign as a way into the trump campaign. and that is, that's significant and we've seen e-mails that show this outreach from these russian officials and russian intermediaries saying, oh, hey, maybe i could travel with the trump campaign and get briefings from inside the trump campaign. maybe i could write op-eds in support of the trump campaign, but not say, you know, i would look independent. so, this, this was a significant part of a russian intelligence

operation that, frankly, the president has tried repeatedly to say didn't amount to anything and question his very existence. >> virginia, this network of dinner circles, clubs, academic institutions that supported these engagements with this, what did you make of that web that has been uncovered here in this piece? >> one of the things we've seen throughout the leaks about what happened with the trump campaign, is this rogue's gallery of people like we've never seen before? who is paul manafort? each name makes you think, again about exactly their appearance and where they might be. george papadopoulos initially we learned that he lied to the fbi about his contact with an academic, a maltese professor that was somehow friends with a niece of vladimir putin. the one things their brilliant enterprise piece and "the times" is seeing out 2017 with a bang.

this piece was amazing. it legitimately was a bombshell yesterday. one of the things we're learning is that this, connected to london institutions that barely seem to exist. he's always described as an academic and he dismissed his contacts in russia as merely academics. carter page, also, as a checker academic history and i know that papadopoulos has a master's in international relations. i think this goes to trump was not getting any kind of a-team. he was looking for people and could kind of swelling them up to call or doctor carter page as if, you know, they were nobel prize winners and they were scoundrels in this academic -- it might as well been a club scene for all and academic boiler rooms. they literally go in london and can't find these places. >> let me ask how how this changes the framework surrounding this investigation now. we saw records related to deutch

bank and a number of investigators following the money like they're following the data, as well, looking that data operations. how do you see the framework changing? >> there's still a lot we're waiting for. we are talking about this as we are about to wrap it up. what the president seems to very dearly want. it was fascinating he had been using the word collusion in his interview with "new york times." it's very easy to lose count. >> 16 times. >> just says the word collusion. if he establishes that as a standard. was there collusion, he can then politically say, well, there wasswas ant conclusion regardless of what comes out. a criminal standard or a political standard. he gets that. i think what's interesting. you mentioned deutch bank. everything we have been talking about so far has had to do with contracts, right? but mueller has to establish quids and pros. stuff that trump got. stuff that trump gave. one thing that we know he's looking into, mueller, is

records provided by deutch bank. we know they have engaged of trades outside of trump to get russian money out of the country. we know that mueller is looking into the possibility of allegedly jared kushner's dealings with deutch bank. we know that deutch bank still provided a $300 million line of credit when no other bank would touch him. i think there is a lot of stuff, financial support that trump got that mueller is clearly looking into that we haven't begun to talk about yet. >> thank you very much. crowds already forming in times square for what could be one of the coldest new year's celebrations on record. what you need to know if you plan to face those bitter temperatures. unprecedented security. how local law enforcement is working with the fbi and secret service to keep more than a million people safe. bill bratton will join us after the break to explain. but we call it "the wish house." people visit national parks from all over the world.

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some breaking news out of colorado. five deputies shot. let's listen to a press conference taking place right now in douglas county. >> but they are part of a regional task force.

>> one of the first ones on scene. we can understand why he got, so many people got shot. >> officers all arrived at the same time and went into the house at the same time and contacted him. and a bedroom portion of the apartment complex. and the sequence of the officers who was shot first, i don't have that available. we'll hopefully get some body cam footage that will help me answer some of those questions. although i do know that all of them were shot very, very quickly. and they all went down almost within seconds of each other. so, it was, it was more of an ambush type of attack on our officers. he knew whee were coming and we, obviously, let him know that we were there to investigate the disturbance. so, i don't have any other

particulars on -- >> when you said that you guys are familiar with him and you said you can't say much more, but can you give us an idea of how many calls to that apartment you've had in the past or how well are you familiarized with this particular suspect? >> we, if it's who we believe it is, he had contact with law enforcement on multiple occasions. there was no criminal history, so he has had encounters with law enforcement throughout the metro area and that's about the only thing i can say right now. >> what kind of weapon, sheriff? >> that is still being determined by the investigators. we do know it was a rifle. >> can you tell us more about zachary and his children? >> well, yes, they are. domestic violence investigations are very, very dangerous. when the officers arrived at the apartment, they quickly figured

out that, you know, there was some kind of unfortunate circumstance that was taking place in that apartment. and immediately started to investigate it and that's when they were shot. >> tell us more about zachary. i knew he worked -- how old are his children and why did he choose to come work for you? >> i don't know why he came to work for us. he came from castle rock police department and loved it there. and they're a great agency and he chose to come over to douglas county. his children are young. that's all i'm going to say at this point. he has two very young children. and his wife, they have a great support system in place. obviously, with the holidays, there were a lot of people here available to them. and we have resource s availabl to her and the children.

>> you arrived about 5:30 and the shooting didn't start until 5:56 or in that timeline. what was going on in that amount of time before the shooting started? >> what i know about that, i don't have the particulars on the time available to me, but i do know that the officers were engaging him. they were having conversation. they were trying to talk to him. they were talking to other persons or person that was at the apartment complex. and, so, they were conducting an investigation. and during that time is when he chose to barricade himself into a bedroom. >> did they know the specific history? >> yes, yes. >> why did they choose to go into the house? were there hostages or something? >> they were let into the house by the other person that live there's or him, i don't know the particulars on that. they were led into the house to

conduct their investigation. >> could you tell us at which point your department sent a reverse 911 call to the area. how long after this happened? if there was a lag, why was there a lag? >> good question. i have no answer. i don't know. if there was a lag and the reverse 911, we'll look into it. i don't know that. i do know that we do send out 911s and i know the particulars on what the message was sent. i do know that officers were working to try to get people that were on either side of the apartment complex evacuated. but the time frame on the reverse 911, i can't answer that. >> i know it's aural ein the investigation, but is there one thing that was said or happened that escalated it to this person shooting at your deputies or was the shooting immediate upon their arrival? >> no. i don't know if there was

anything that escalated it of why he chose to do that. those officers will be interviewed as soon as they're able to be out of the hospital. we can get more information on what led to him barricading himself and shooting at the officers. >> two clarifications. the officers were wearing body cams. how many people were inside the apartment at the time? >> two. >> no children. >> no. >> who called you guys? >> a neighbor called the noise disturbance. >> it was not a domestic? because that's what you guys have been saying. >> it's not a male/female domestic. it was a disturbance. we originally got it as a domestic. but they learned it wasn't a husband/wife or partner type of thing. and that was part of their

investigation. but it was originally called in as a domestic and quickly learned it was a disturbance. >> disturbance is generic. was it a fight or what's going on in the apartment? >> the suspect was just making a ton of noise. >> sheriff, i understand one of your deputies was in this incident was separated from the others and was actually in the apartment with the suspect, which must be an agonizing thing. can you tell us how long that deputy before he was rescued? >> i don't have the exact time frame. yes, he was. when he was shot and went down, the other officers went down right around him. and they tried to pull him out, but they were unable to due to their injuries. they were able to crawl to safety. he was not conscious. and, so, they weren't able to

talk to him or to get him out. and the suspect continued shooting at the officers over zach. so, the time frame, how long it was before we went in there and got zach and eventually was engaged with the suspect shot and killed him. i can get you that time frame. i don't have available it to me. >> clarify the two civilians. one is the suspect and one is a neighbor. two inside the apartment. >> two separate people. not the person involved in the disturbance. >> two men inside the apartment? >> yes, ma'am. >> tony spurloc that county just south of denver a shooting there this morning. more details on that. just recap what we learned here in these last few minutes. one deputy dead, six more people injured. a procession for that deputy through littleton, colorado. that took place just a short time ago.

two officers and two civilians injured in that shooting that investigators say began as a domestic disturbance. that's what they thought when they went there. moments ago, boulder's sheriff tweeted that his own son, jeff, was among those who was injured. he just got out of surgery and said to be in stable condition. officials believe there was one gunman. the sheriff saying he used a rifle and that person also believed to be dead. in this hour the president tweeting his support wishing his condolence to those victims. dc sheriff and their family. s. we love our police and law enforcement. moments ago -- bill bratton the former commissioner of the new york police department with details here on all the security that has been put into place here in light of the celebration that is scheduled to take place in a few hours time as revellers there prepare pto ring in the nw year. what is put in place?

is this something that changes year after year wholly or do we see the nypd responding to threats that they've seen over the course of the year? >> effectively, what you have is a constant evolution of trying to prevent terrorist attacks. so, for example, in 2014 with the emergence of isis as a terrorist entity and caliphate for a short period of time in syria. my time as commissioner we significantly enhance what my commissioner kelly has put together in terms of counterterrorism capability after 9/11. we added to that almost 1,300 uniformed officers and you are showing the officers equip would the helmets and the long guns. that was part of that evolution. what is going on in times square, a significant increase in numbers of personnel.

5,000 my last year as police commissioner and now upwards of 6,000. think of that, 6,000 police officers in an area of 1 1/2 square miles. 6,000 officers only two police departments in america that only have more officers in the department than what new york will put into the times square area today and this evening. started putting markers to identify various floors to make it easier if they would have a las vegas-type shooting incident. the evolution is constant and constantly continuing. >> i went out to get a cup of coffee and walked by the 17th precinct and noticed all the visible presence there. help us understand the balance.

>> a major event this evening, handle both the visible that is meant to reassure the public, as well as to control, in the case of new york, over 1 million people in that very small area. but what goes on behind the scenes probably as critical. the idea is to try to prevent something from occurring. behind the scenes intelligence work. the idea of with agency overseas and 14 different cities around the world working closely with the fbi and joint terrorism task force. the idea is to pick up on a plot before it is, in fact, put into action. so, there's multiple layers of security. what goes on in the joint terrorism task force and what goes on in the realtime crime center and what goes on in the streets of new york that are so visible in the videos that you're showing. a multi-layered system that is

intended to prevent and also, god forbid, the ability to respond very quickly and deal with the threat very quickly. >> bill bratton, how has cooperation changed? you describe the web and how much better is the local police department here working with hand and glove other agencies across the globe and other agencies around the world? >> i'd use seamless. i know certainly during my time three years most recently, we spent a lot of time ensuring that all the agencies we had to work with, both in the united states and the alphabet agencies with the federal government overseas with the many cities that we're located in that we have very intimate relationships. as intelligence is so critical. relationships are so critical. you don't want to establish them when something has happened. you want to establish them before the fact to prevent something from happening. so, new york, more so than probably any american police department has been able to

develop seamless international web of intelligence gathering analysis and response. >> bill bratton, thank you very much. former commissioner of the nypd. we'll talk more next hour. thanks very much for the time. we'll be right back. well, like most of you, i just bought a house. -oh! -very nice. now i'm turning into my dad. i text in full sentences. i refer to every child as chief. this hat was free. what am i supposed to do, not wear it? next thing you know, i'm telling strangers defense wins championships. -well, it does. -right? why is the door open? are we trying to air condition the whole neighborhood? at least i bundled home and auto on an internet website, progressive.com. progressive can't save you from becoming your parents, but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto. i mean, why would i replace this? it's not broken.

welcome back. i'm david. president trump has indicated he hopes to tackle immigration, health care and infrastructure. north korea remains a major issue for the president and his team and there is, as we discuss a new crisis overseas, iran is seeing the largest demonstration since the political uprising was suppressed there back in 2009. president trump has weighed in several times on twitter this morning. he warned the iranians, the usa is watching very closely for human rights violations. joel pollack is senior editor at large and joins me now. great to speak with you. let me look at what the headlines are. american leadership on world stage, unlike obama, donald trump supports pro democracy protests against iranian regime. play a cut from 2009 of what president obama had to say at the time. >> it's up to the iranians to

make decisions about who iran's leaders will be. that we respect iranian sovereignty. and want to avoid the united states being the issue inside of iran. >> help me ntunderstand the distinction. perhaps more of a flavor to what president trump has said. what's different here? what have you highlighted upon here? >> well, typically when you say that you respect another country's sovereignty in the middle of an uprising, you're siding with the government. you're siding with the attempts of the regime to crack down on the protests. that's how obama's message was understood at the time. obama had an agenda which was to create a grand bargain on the nuclear program. to do that, he needed to keep the iranian regime in place. that was part of the strategy for remaking the middle east. rather than siding with the i n iranian people he would

consolidate power. a strategic mistake. a mistake of historic proportions and now there may be another opportunity. we don't know how strong these protests are or how far they will go? the regime is very strong. the iranian economy has not recovered and does not enjoy a great deal of legitimacy. the iranian people are starting to see their government does face a serious opposition in the west and that may embolden them to rise up. in any case, trump's response is the correct one. one to obama should have made several years ago. >> we could play out the counterfactual here. what regime looks like. i look at the recent history, you can see trepdacious here . d what does regime change look like to you in iran when you look at these protests, started off on thursday. we don't have a clear sense of who, if anyone, is leading them.

what does regime change and the prospect for regime change look like for you now, joel? >> it's very hard to know what the prospects of the protests are because the iranian regime has become better as stifling communication. they have suspended instagram and already got their hooks into facebook and twitter and turn internet access off and on to make it more difficult for activists to get the word out. what regime change would look like would probably be a removal of the islamic theocracy that runs the country and its replacement by a parliamentary democracy, which may still have an islamic character. to maintain the legitimacy, they would probably have some sort of islamic character to the state, which has been part of iranian history for centuries. but i think it would definitely be a parliamentary democracy that is more open, more free and the key here, one that doesn't spend money on foreign wars and on terrorism. these protests started in part because of high prices and the

iranian people are frustrated that their government is spending billions of dollars on terrorism, on syria, on missiles when many people lack basic necessities. so, that's one thing the new regime, if it comes into being, would definitely change. >> joe, i want to look domestically here, if i could. the protests kicked off on thursday and how this has been covered. you, yourself, admitting we don't qknow who is fueling them or driving them. how difficult to report from iran. just give me a sense of why you think this debate within the u.s. is important. you have conservative its harkening back to the obama administration and fighting over whose policy is better than whose. is the focus distracting from what is happening on the ground in iran? >> i don't think it is distracting. america's role in the world. obama had a very clear view that america had overextended itself and that we ought to lead from behind.

and trump has a different view. one that doesn't like foreign interventions any more than the obama administration did. although obama did launch a war and still wants to project a kind of moral leadership and wants to build the u.s. military so that we have a deterrent, if not necessarily an active one. and i think that's a debate that will continue throughout the trump administration as it continued throughout the obama administration. a fundamental dividing line in american politics. but i think, ultimately, events on the ground in iran will determine the shape of news coverage, as well as political debate. a lot of things, a lot of things we can do to help. we can help get the word out when activists are able to release news and images from inside those protests. we can try to prevent the iranian regime from jamming twister and instagram and other social media services. started doing that during 2009 during the protests. we can start doing that actively right now.

>> i want to ask you for the domestic agenda for the president. talking to michael schmidt of the "new york times" down in the grill room and he said, quote, in my opinion they should come to me on infrastructure. they should come to me and come to me on health care because we can do bipartisan health care and bipartisan infrastructure and do bipartisan daca. help me here as we approach 2018. how optimistic are you about partisanship. the president thinks he has that made when he comes back to washington. >> from a conservative point of view, i'm very optimistic that the president will be able to strike a number of deals and get a lot of things done next year. but he cannot put the cart before the horse. the most important thing is for him to pass a daca deal that protects conservative priorities. that builds the wall that ends chain migration and that puts border security, including the wall, before any sort of legal

status. >> is he in the driver seat there? something that is squarely going to be something that congress is going to be figuring out? >> he is very much in the driver's seat. but he has to drive a hard bargain. he has to consolidate his base, first of all, if he's going to hope to appeal more broadly to other voters in the 2018 midterms. but this goes to his fundamental promise in the election from 2015 to 2016 and onward that he has to build that wall. that he has to do what no president had been able to do before which was to secure the border. make sure what kind of amnesty or legalization is passed, it's absolutely the last one. no way to do that unless you build the war, secure the border and enforce internally and chain migration and do all those things before there is any legal status. that is the first hill he has to climb before he moves on to infrastructure and entitlement reform and before he moves on to health care reform. anything like that. he has to secure his promises

and honor his promises to his base. >> let me ask you about the role of and steve bannon. we heard from mitch mcconnell before lawmakers went on their holiday break. he was making fun or diminishing the role that steve bannon plays in republican party politics in light of that alabama special election. what is your response to that? the role of steve bannon and his brand of american politics as we speed towards 2018? >> i think it is a mistake to dismiss the insurgency that continues within the republican party within the leadership. many republican voters are upset with the leadership and there's a lot of energy and excitement in and enthusiasm behind those campaigns. if they try to shut down those primary contests the way they tried in the past. they will also be turning off the voters that they need to come to the pole polls in noveo maintain control. there are going to be lively debates and candidates that come out and already some big

successes for the insurgency. some republican establishment candidates, some incumbents who have decided not to run again. sure. that's always been the case. if mitch mcconnell had his way and marco rubio wouldn't be a senator. you'd have senator charlie crist. the establishment isn't good at picking winners and you have to let the voters decide which candidate did best. >> joe, thank you very much. happy new year. well, a year of uncertainty millions of dreamers will begin 2018 unsure of their future. what president trump is saying about that after the break.

welcome back. i'm david gura. as we just discussed, there's plenty of uncertainty surrounding the 2018 political agenda, especially when it comes to the fate of key accomplishments from the obama presidency. daca, president obama's policy to protect young, undocumented immigrants known as d.r.e.a.m.ers from deportation be on the negotiating table when lawmakers return to washington in early january? politico reporting congressional leaders from both parties are set to meet wednesday with white house officials to knock out an agreement with daca. president trump has tweeted that

there will be no deal if democrats do not meet his demands, including for the border wall. also hanging in the balance is the future of obamacare after the republican tax plan repealed the individual mandate, a key component of the law designed to stabilize insurance costs. well, that could mean some big changes, and that means there are some big unknowns in 2018. joining me is former dnc adviser doug thornel, republican strategist joe watkins with us as well. joe, we just heard from joel pollak of bright bart with his perspective on what the legislative agenda should be in the new year and he believes immigration should be top of the list. what you've heard, your sense of what's going on in washington, is that likely to be the case? >> i certainly hope so, and i hope that there's great bipartisan collaboration, and i hope that democrats are at the table to work with republicans on what daca might look like going forward. i think the president actually cares about d.r.e.a.m.ers and would like to see something get done. i don't think he's -- he has

some demands, of course, but i don't think he's so wedded to the details that he can't listen to what democrats have to say about what daca should look like going forward. so i think there's the possibility of a win and of good legislation going forward for daca. >> maria teresa kumar, you look at who comprises this group of individuals, the median age 25 years of age, median age of arrival in the u.s. 6. we heard from joe watkins that the president has sympathy for the d.r.e.a.m.ers nap piece in "the new york times" from last weekend describing the meeting in the oval office on immigration describes him as being conflicted on the issue. do you have a sense of what the white house wants at this point? >> i think they want to build their wall at any means necessary, and that will be a challenge not only for democrats, but for southern republicans that realize what happens when you actually force a wall between everybody's daily life. let's not forget, last year, hillary clinton lost texas by 9% compared to president obama, who lost it by 16%. this is something that is very personal to republicans on the

border, and he has to figure out how to address that. now, in terms of daca, let's not forgot that the president was the one that created an artificial expiration for march 5th to basically wipe off 800,000 people that are now in a federal database. so i think the concern among both the democrats and republicans, especially, again, the republicans on the southern border, is that they need to create a safe haven, they need to pass legislation, hopefully by the first quarter. otherwise, you're going to see, again, 800,000 people possibly deported overnight. >> doug, let me ask you about the consequences of uncertificate. the "detroit free press" describes an increase in raids and enforcement by federal immigration agents have unnerved many people in the largely hispanic community around all saints and other churches in southwest detroit. some latino immigrants have become fearful of going to public places. maria teresa describing that march date here. there is that uncertainty, and do you think that's being telegraphed or communicated to politicians, that they get that,

there's a whole population wondering what's to happen next? >> i think they do get it, and,why it was important that we should have tried to get this done before the end of the year. i'm no math expert, but you've got 193 house democrats who will be supportive of a daca, permanent daca fix, and you've got about 34 house republicans who sent a letter to paul ryan supporting a permanent daca fix. that gets you over the 218 to pass a bill in the house and i think you've got the votes in the senate as well. so they could do this tomorrow and get it done, but it's being held up right now because of trump's, you know, push for a border wall that is deeply unpopular with the american people. >> maria teresa, let me ask you lastly about the health of the affordable care act, that health care legislation. we saw the individual mandate taken out as a result of the tax cut bill that was passed. you look at sign-ups for federal exchanges, about 8.7 milling ono a little bit less than last year. how do you describe the health of that at this point, the president declaring it dead on

twitter and in statement since that tax bill was signed into law? >> i think we have to look back at what happened recently in the special elections. the number one reason folks went out in virginia and across the country was because they want their health care. and while the number did not exceed, the enrollment number did not exceed last year's, people expected it to underperform because the white house has basically cut off information when it comes to encouraging people to participate. so there is a wetted appetite towards health care. the republicans know it, the democrats know it. they'll try to end a lot of that, but i think they'll have a tough hill. because again, the reason that people were filling the town halls and making all those calls in early june through august was because they were clear that by protesting and ensuring folks that they wanted their health care, republicans basically said, you're right, we're going to try to fight it to make sure we don't have to cast those votes. >> thank you so much for your time. happy new year. >> thank you, david. >> happy new year. coming up next hour, deadly protests in iran. what's behind the clashes that have erupted in that country since thursday.

stay with us.

hello, everybody on new year's eve. i'm david gura at msnbc headquarters in new york. deadly chaos inside iran. political protesters clashing with police in multiple cities. the clear message about reform from the islamic republic's president and what president trump says he is watching for. killed in the line of duty. a gunman takes aim