going to join us downstairs on the sofa with the best of i guess the special edition of the alexander stille to look forward to catching up with you later on. so tell us joe budden has been scotland's leading portrait painter for quite a while see most of painting of the billion orebody in scotland over the last generation a favorite of the ones you saw i think it's got a few left to go but we saw an amazing portion of michael mcdonald and he's painted a couple of mine even more interesting than the portraits of the paintings he has it to pick the saltire and also his lovely granddaughter sophie which i think the starter instance is a lot of what he does is just going for a longer period so with a period when he was painting just about every picture looked great but. what was fascinating about scott was national flag i think as an artist as many creative have have a real interest in the politics of the country too and i think it exists all tire in trait i think it depicts a lot about scotland and not about the conversation in scotland it continues to twenty fourteen referendum that features

currently is the lowest ranked of all the world cup participants but no matter who wins fans like alexander can still enjoy a month of the beautiful game. now twenty five years of texting ban is up in one minute with the history of the text message and the future stay tuned for that. where i come from we have to fight for a free press and was born and raised in a military dictatorship with just one t.v. shadow and if you use favors when official information as a journalist i have walked off the streets of many qantas and their lives are the same forward to social inequality a lack of the freedom of the press and corruption we got on the fourth to stay silent when it comes to the fans of the humans and see the microphones who have decided to put their trust in us. my name is jenny paris and i work at the dollar. to go to. a surge in german property prices has officials ringing the alarm bells is it a bubble or is city living just becoming too expensive for many of us. and this weekend box a quarter century since the first text message but the gold mine days are over for telecoms. and been physical and

although the overseas contingency operations fund is currently only at $74 billion, alexander believes there's stilllenty of projects in there that are clearly not for war planning that are enabling the pentagon to bust its budget. ryan: there are so many line items in the oco account that simply aren't what the account's designed for. and that's important because congress sets limits for itself. and by pushing money out of those limits and into the overseas contingent account, they're going around their own rules, they're circumventing the law. lisa: in effect, is this money laundering by the pentagon? ryan: well, i think money laundering might be a little strong, but it is, kind of, it is a good analogy, because it is moving money, changing accounts. lisa: i mean, taxpayers have to play by the rules and they're the ones ultimately paying for this and it doesn't sound like the pentagon is playing by the rules. or congress is playing by the rules. ryan: well, the pentagon -- right. the pentagon is looking for every dollar it can get. so, congress' willingness to give so much money to the pentagon is

. >> that's absolutely not a good enough answer, but nearly a year later alexander's questions still apply. why should americans trust you? of course, that same question applies to all of us, so now my question for the panel is if truth was the biggest casualty of 2017. still here at the table sally busby, john of a von and joanne lipman. john, in this choose your own news environment, do fact checks and corrections really break through? >> they should. they should. we need for fact checks and reality checks from anchors when people come on air and starts spinning and that applies to the press secretary and the president as well. is truth biggest casualty of 2017? think it's the right term. it's wounded but not dead. >> okay, all right. >> we need to keep fighting for truth because facts do matter and we need to insist on it and when we're confronted with spin, what we're being confronted by the president's surrogates and staffers and the president himself goes well beyond the typical kind of spin that we've seen from former presidents. there's a steady stream of the fake stats you p

nbc's blaine alexander tells us what still needs to happen before this can head to his desk. >> reporter: vice president mike pence presiding over a vote. >> the tax cuts and jobs act, as amended, is passed. >> reporter: the senate passing the republican tax reform bill, bringing it one step closer to president trump's desk. >> if you're making $50,000 a year, two kids, 36% tax cut. >> reporter: republicans say their plan is good for the middle class. it lowers taxes and simplifies the tax code. but it is costly, adding about $1 trillion to the deficit. >> so the president may be celebrating, but most americans will rue this day. >> reporter: democrats calling it a gift to the rich and a non-partisan analysis, predicting taxes for middle class and poorer >> can you tell me what that word is? >> reporter: and, they say, it was done in such a rush, nobody knows what's in the bill. >> we've been given this 20 minutes ago, 25 minutes ago. we're supposed to vote on it in a couple hours. >> reporter: even some republicans speck cepticascepti >> reporter: we should take as long as necessary to

still with us, alexander dryden.far right aspect to its government in the past. i'm assuming this doesn't concern you as far as european economic growth and strength in the euro? alexander: austria was interesting from a political point of view. it doesn't have a wide ramifications for the eurozone equity market. i don't think geopolitical risk in europe has gone away in 2018. we still have the german election, coalition talks in progress, breakfast on the agenda -- brexit on the agenda. there are clouds on the horizon, but it is clear that it was. -- that -- but it is a clearer than it was. is portugal, germany, italy, germany. what we are seeing at the moment is italy starting to move. italy, people are pricing in risk. portugal is going the opposite way with the ratings upgrade coming through. when you talk to investors stateside, are they in a similar position they were at the beginning of last year? are they now more focused on the fact that the european economy is getting back on the front foot and italy is not

>> peter alexander at the white house, thank you. >>> still ahead tonight, risky remedies? the fda announcing a crackdown on certain homeopathic treatments warning they could pose a health danger to you and your family. we'll be back. >>> we're back now with the new crackdown on homeopathic products. the fda warning some of these unregulated alternative remedies could pose serious health risks. nbc's catie beck has more. >> repter: when blainealbot was teething and in pain, his mom corrina bought hyland homeopathic teething tablets. they said "natural" on the label so she thought they were safe. but then she noticed an alarming change in her baby boy. he started having seizures. >> that scared me to death. >> reporter: the seizures stopped when the tablets ran out, and blaine is now a healthy 4-year-old, but the teething product later recalled by the fda for harmful levels of belladonna, a plant-based poison, now linked to the deaths of ten children and injuring 400 more. the company says there is no scientific link between seizures and their product. now the fda planning t

>> peter alexander at the white house, thank you. >>> still ahead tonight, risky remedies? the fda announcing a crackdown on certain homeopathic treatments warning they could ♪ a wealth of information. a wealth of perspective. ♪ a wealth of opportunities. that's the clarity you get from fidelity wealth management. straightforward advice, tailored recommendations, tax-efficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. fidelity wealth management. to help you grow and protect your wealth. i tabut with my back paines, i couldn't sleep and get up in time. then i found aleve pm. aleve pm is the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. i'm back. aleve pm for a better am. -ahh. -the new guy. -whoa, he looks -- -he looks exactly like me. -no. -separated at birth much? we should switch name tags, and no one would know who was who. jamie, you seriously think you look like him? uh, i'm pretty good with comparisons. like how progressive helps people save money by comparing rates, even if we're

there still is some interest in the alexander murray bill, which is the bill senator lamar alexander and patty murray, republican and democrat, have been working on. but there is -- waning support for the bill, at least among health policy experts who are not really sure that, that bill now that the tax bill has been passed, eliminating the individual mandate, would be helpful. it might do more harm than good. and whether or not the republicans have an appetite, really, for going deeper into or trying once again to change health care once again. i'm just not sure it will have much appetite to do that. >> you look at this law now on the books. the individual mandate gone as result of this tax package, and the president characterizing the whole thing as dead or dying. what do you make of that characterization? >> well, there's no doubt that the law is going to be changing the affordable care act, but in many ways the law will stay on the books, and a lot of the good aspects of the law that i certainly was supportive of are remaining in effect. the law requires insurers to take all cove

the one thing we are still waiting on is the alexander murray health care stabilization plan.his was her condition for saying you can repeal the individual mandate but i want there to be some sort of fixed to obamacare the next couple years. that would be in the spending bill set to come up next week. it would fund the government for several more weeks and it's not clear if alexander three -- murray will be in there. folks are not very happy with that plan. julia: what about the senator that actually voted no, senator bob corker? he was concerned about the deficit. i don't see anything in the details to give him a greater degree of calm. >> the leadership has sort of written him off. it's just assumed he's going to be a no. they haven't done anything to address his concerns and with some of the changes the bill is more expensive and they are having to look for other offsets. nothing nearly as great as corker would want. julia: thank you, laura davidson. still ahead, disney's fox hunt comes to an end with a $52 billion deal. scott galloway joins us coming up to survey the ever-

still enough of a breeze, i did see some upper 20s any alexander valley. gilroy is at 30. 32 boulder creek. 32 feldon. o cal 39. santa clara 34. pretty cool with calm conditions and the temperature going down. you could not textbook high pressure over california. there's nothing here but clear skies and an offshore breeze for most. we have a little bit here. oakland has a northeast. still enough of an easterly breeze, even though it can be about 3 - 5 miles an hour, that's enough to keep the temperatures from getting critical minimum. 60s on the temperatures. some of the warmest temperatures will be by the coast. sal, what he have? anything? >>> traffic will be a little bit slow in some areas. we will start off with a look at the tracy commute. we can talk about that westbound 580 traffic that is going to be a little bit slow this morning on 580 and 205 coming in through tracy . you can see it, the road sensors are firing up red. it is very typical. if you're getting on the freeway in livermore or present and not a bad to me. double into castro valley also

also growing fallout over roy moore's defeat in alabama and his refusal, still, to concede that election. nbc's peter alexander reports. >> americans will see lower taxes and bigger paychecks beginning in february. >> reporter: a political defeat in alabama, president trump taking an early victory lap on taxes. >> we want to give you the american people a giant tax cut for christmas. >> reporter: multiple gop sources familiar with the negotiation tell nbc news, the highest earners will pay less, their tax rate knocked down from nearly 40% to 37. up to $10,000 of state and property taxes can be deducted. the cap for mortgage interest deductions, lowered just $750,000 to a million right now. the bill repeals obamacare, the individual mandate. no longer penalizing penal for not having health insurance, but potentially jeopardizing already fragile marketplaces. and for businesses a significant corporate tax cut currently 35%, dropping to just 21% beginning next year. democrats are calling on senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to hit the brakes on his tax bill until alabama's new senator is seated. >> delayed u

still waiting to hear from the nobel committee. it's the hip-hop take, of course, on the life of alexander hamilton.nd it is going international, opening last night for the first time in london, and kind of wondering go things got awkward. >> yeah, apparently the show was a hit. but do the brits realize the show centers on their defeat and our war for independence? let's see what they said. >> awkward. >> i can't even describe it. you just have to see it. just the movement. everything, ah, i'm literally speechless. >> the cast here were phenomenal. and they should be very proud. >> oh, my god, it was absolutely incredible. honestly, so, so worth it. you've got to go see it. >> amazing. i've been waiting for it to come over here. i'm speechless. you just can't quite describe what it is. they all want to be american citizens soon as well. by the way, lin manuel miranda has taken the show for a three-week run. to puerto rico in january. >> hamilton everywhere. you get hamilton and you get hamilton. miranda will star in the role, but if he needs an understudy, we have a suggestion for you. >> i got to s

alexander faced polls on saturday. he had a much tighter fight against christina can nearly. still able to get up and relieve pressure on the government. kathleen: john turnbull is in exactly having a great couple of years, is he? what does this mean for him? it takes the pressure off of him, he has had a tough year. inhas had a lot of pressure his own party, his own coalition of lawmakers, about his leadership looking for direction. he has been accused of lacking vision. he has found it tough to get his policy agenda through parliament with the very narrow majority in the lower house, and also the senate sometimes has been referred to in calcitriol. he has been forced to do embarrassing backflips on things like a banking royal commissioner, large-scale investigation into the baking industry, which he didn't want, but had to gave in -- in the banking industry, which he didn't want. he has also taken measures to reduce energy costs, which have been concerning to consumers. in the last week of parliament earlier this month, he shipped it through the same-sex legislation which he clai

the same time alexander go on and cautions the party that it should not strive for any kind of government office if it is what he calls a level with the parties a clear message. is still pretty much all about disrupting the political system for now. plunging temperatures in eastern china have left tree branches and leaves coated with a very special type of frost called rime these scenes are from out. province the dripping white crystals on the trees have turned the area into a real life winter wonderland rime forms when water vapor in the air freezes rapidly on the surface plants. ok if it was a christmas theme most of you know st nick or santa claus but how many of you know krampus the austrian christmas devil according to legend he's a half man half goat figure who comes for all the bad little girls and boys bring nothing for them but cole and birch whips over the weekend revelers in vienna celebrated a krampus parade take a look well have more news for you at the top of the hour fear that.

still in there? it is a loophole that even the financial industry assumed would be closed. >> the president said it would. >> mnuchin, gary cohen, lavar alexander. >> we're going to agree on this, thankfully. we found something we agree on. i actually would support eliminating that. >> tell me why it is still in there. >> well, we'll see in the final bill if it is. >> but it is not in the house bill or the senate bill. why not? >> there's still compromises and still conversations going on. let's wait and see. >> it is in neither bill. >> we're on the same side. >> this is not something you'd be stuck on. the republicans in the house and the republicans in the senate didn't see fit to take away carried interest. yet, tax rebates -- or tax reductions on people who earn less than $75,000 will sunset and go away. but corporate cuts are permanent. again, i don't understand it, sir. look at the performance in corporations over the last ten years. they have done spectacularly well. money is basically free. corporate profitability is very high. why did they need goosing but the average american gets a sunset on their tax cuts? >> the average american i

alexander government cautions the party that it should not strive for any kind of government office before it is what he calls a level with the established parties a clear message that the fifty is still pretty much all about disrupting the political system for now. and the final game of match day fourteen votes for a commanding win against mention. smalley open the scoring for the war after just four minutes dangled in dobie added another midway through the first half and joshua. sealed the victory with twenty minutes to go three nil final score there. and colin have confirmed their parting ways with coach peter stroger after four and a half years at the helm. over lead cologne into europe for the first time in twenty five years but this season has been a catastrophic one of form the club is still winless in the league after fourteen games and not even a fighting draw was shot on saturday could save his job. in a top honestly a clash on saturday army leipzig had a chance to rein in league leaders far in munich with victory over hoffenheim and their opponents said ben in a run for the last two months. with just one win in seven games yulia novels man was looking for a strong response

still does. >> that of course is a question i had not expected and it's to answer. might uncle alexander meant his first movie when he was 14 and never stopped making movies until his death in 1966. i think that there are quarter movies, many of them, but there is a big difference between the movies my uncle, alex, produced in those he produced and directed and even bigger and more important group of movies, which had that country about the three brothers. that is to say they were produced by-- by my brother-- uncle alex and my father did the art direction, so that's a smaller slice of the pie than the whole pie and i like to think the movies on which all three brothers worked as the ones out of which i would pick my favorite. allowing for my fondness for the third man, which is produced by it might uncle alex of my father did the art direction, but my other uncle had nothing to do with it at all that i am enormously admiring of things to come in which all three brothers were involved and which is an amazing futuristic film and has an enormous range of extraordinary performances by great

alexander in washington with what else he had to say about that investigation. >> reporter: janelle the president believes the russia investigation is bad for america but still he says he has no plans to interfere. president trump greeting service members at his florida golf club. but in an interview with "the new york times" taking shots at the investigation into russian election meddling led by special counsel robert mueller saying it makes the country lack bad and puts the country in a bad position. and on mueller, add going doesn't bother me because i hope that he is going to be fair. i think that he is going to be fair. a departure from some republicans in recent weeks who have questioned the investigation's the credibility. >> this is disgusting, unaccountable by as. i think the public interest in this whole thing is gone. >> public opinion pret evenly divided. and nbc news/wall street journal poll showing 38% of americans believe there was collusion between russia and the trump campaign. while 35% say no. and in the interview president trump insisting again there was none. >> no, i'm not. no. >> but critics caution that's not set in stone. >> his definit

well, she and senator lamar alexander, who's been leading the committee working on this issue, wolf, released a statement today trying to put that to rest and say, this is stilling. but originally the plan was to make this part of the year-end spending bill, which now, we believe, is going to be pushed until next year for congress to deal with. they're kicking the can down the road. and so senator alexander and senator collins released a statement saying, we have received assurances from republican leaders, including mcconnell, including speaker paul ryan that they are going to come back to this. that they are still going to support this compromise. so they believe that it's just a matter of time. >> phil mudd, i want your thoughts on what's happening up at the united nations tomorrow. the u.n. general assembly is going to have a big meeting and there's a resolution to condemn the united states' for the president's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital, to move the u.s. embassy to jerusalem from tel aviv. listen to how the president react in advance of that >> for all of these nations that take our money then vote against us at the security coun

lamar alexander was asked by morning joe and said, wait until it gets marked up. it's still >> i can't give you an answer to that. donald trump said during the election, the hedge fund managers are getting away with murder on their taxes and says all they're doing is pushing paper around. so i really would have thought that the trump administration would have pushed for closing this special tax break for people who manage money for a living. >> special tax break. and the day after this special tax break was still in there in the senate bill, guess what happened? founder of blackstone steve swartsman who was on the trip to saudi arabia with president trump and raised $40 billion in permanent capital. guess what he did? he threw a fund-raiser for president trump right here at 740 park avenue in the former rockefellar apartment. remember, steve schwartzman made the argument to the employees of plaque blackstone who had an issue he was running for council. they said, he's not the guy. steve schwartzman wanted his number two man to work with john gray and gray said no way. what i

still see the forest and save the trees. john blackstone, cbs news, crescent city, california. >> duthiers: now to some other stories we're falling tonight. alexander navalny is calling for a boycott of russia's presidential election in march. me he was formally barred today from running. he has a past conviction for fraud, though many have called that an act of political retribution. in his christmas message, pope francis warned the winds of war are blowing around the world. he called far two-state solution between the israelis and the palestinians and prayed for an end to the crisis over north korea's nuclear program. tens of thousands of u.s. service members are spending christmas in harm's way. the war in afghanistan raging since 2001 is now the longest in american history. americans are also deployed in iraq, syria, and many other hot spots. in what's become an annual tradition, some sent holiday greetings from overseas. >> merry christmas and happy new year's from africa. >> merry christmas and happy new year from san antonio all the way up to dallas. >> i want to give a shout-out to my family back home in south carolina. merry christmas. i l

alexander marquart has this look. >> reporter: if there is any middle ground left in the race, anyone still on the fence, it is quicklyin the wake of the allegations of sexual misconduct against roy moore. particularly it seems among women. kim dowdall is a live long republican who has never voted for a democrat. now, she's not just voting for one, but actively campaigning against the republican. >> i never questioned the allegations. >> reporter: when you heard them, you knew right away they were true? >> yeah. i figured, yes, because it is hard for a woman to say that, it is hard anywhere in the country, but especially in the south. >> reporter: she says she was raped when she was 16. when the allegations came out, she couldn't bring herself to keep supporting moore. >> that surprised me. i was very big -- i liked the guys who go against the grain. i like the guys who go against the grain. but there is a limit. and when you abuse your power, in the way he abused his power, you can't continue to support that. >> reporter: now, as she goes door to door with her signs, doug jones is hoping there are many more kim dowda

renewing chip, the children's health insurance program, and passing murray-alexander would be important steps forward, but we still must do more. now, i don't think we're going to get all my prescription drug bills passed by the end of the year but we should. we won't but we should. that doesn't mean that i'm giving up because i think the american people aren't giving up because they've been able to see right cleareyed what's going on because they're starting to see what's happening with the costs of their prescription drugs. the costs are skyrocketing. i heard from people across minnesota who are struggling to afford the medicine they need. this is about the woman in deluth who told me that she chose not to fill her last prescription because that one drug would cost a full 25% of her income. this is about the woman in st. paul who even with medicare can't afford a $663 a month cost for medicine that she needs. and this is about a woman from crystal, minnesota, who told me, i'm practically going without food to pay for my prescriptions. it's heartbreaking that this is happening in america. reducing the cost of pre

alexander is live at the white house for us. peter good morning. >> aaron, eun, good morning to you. this morning, still under scrutiny.resident trump is back at the white house after i quick trip out west. what did the president know and when about his michael perhaps the preeminent question right now, did the president obstruct justice? this is a reference to the tweet on the screen that was written now said by an outside lawyer of the president where he insisted in part that the president knew that michael flynn lied to both the vice president and the fbi. the timeline surrounding that before the then fbi director james comey says the president, in effect, well, basically said let it go on the flynn case would indicate that it could have been obstruction of justice. the personal lawyer to the president says that that whole claim is ignorant. but at the same time, there does appear to be a rift between the president's legal team. you have one attorney suggesting that president trump cannot obstruction justice. he's the chief law enforcement officer. according to the constitution. this morning the white house counsel,

alexander: that is a great question. most of the people we are talking to say that there is still more to go. mentioned the bank of america merrill lynch survey. there is a consensus building it ishould this get past, kicking in next year so we should see some further gains in global equities and u.s. equities as well. it is also about sectors. earlier this month we sought tech selling off very steeply because it stands to benefit lasts from these taxes. isis one of the sectors that lower taxed in the u.s. so investors are shifting to banks and sectors that could benefit more. it will be interesting to see how this turns out. tech is the biggest outperform or in the u.s. and europe. we will see if this changes -- these changes could change that and investors want to cut down on exposure. matt: investors are bullish but they want to make specific picks. thanks for joining us. great coverage. markets for us. we are minutes away from the open. we will take a look at your stocks to watch that you need to pay attention to today including holsinger has a 5% stake in that -- paul singer has a 5% sta

still had a voice in the confirmation process. that's important part. i think senator which alexander talked about that. >> today's hearing is about how too do it even faster. this will be the first president in history was able to confirm. this is pretty shocking that the majority is complaining about obstruction. let me be clear, one of the biggest issues is they have proven through the normal vetting process, even to the majority. we expect the republican president to point conservative nominees but we don't expect unqualified nominees and none of us should tolerate it. nominees who can answer basic questions about the law, nominees to be trial judges who have never tried a case, nominees with serious conflicts of interest, nominees with known substantive issue that they're being appointed to. can the campaign, this was something i was looking forward too, this is his quote, i'm going to throw myself with only the best and most are his people. we want top-of-the-line professionals. this is yet another statement by the president that has been proven false. my colleague seemed willin

still very much committed to. however, one senior administration official, craig, acknowledging to my colleague peter alexander moments ago, we're prepared for that process to be derailed temporarily. so, an acknowledgment that this is a significant move and one that will undoubtedly cause shock waves throughout the region. this comes after president trump has consulted with his allies in the region as well as regional allies, a number of foreign leaders pressing president trump not to make this decision because they're concerned it will ultimately derail peace talks. the administration saying the opposite will be true. this could take a very thorny issue off the table and open up a new avenue in those peace talks. of course, there are security concerns as well, craig. i know you have reporters throughout the region who can speak about that firsthand. the administration effectively telling all u.s. personnel not to go to the west bank, not to travel to palestinian territories, not to set up meetings there as this announcement gets under way. they'll be tracking that very closely, the security aspect to all of this, ho

alexander the good stuff i think. they know like. i know look. and soon they'll even know how we feel. i'm not a real person but i'm still just in pieces so. scientists around the world are working to measure our emotions. so hopefully i can be a helpful piece assaulting. a virtual person as a therapist or a robotic as a teacher nice to have human empathy what does a machine need to do to create empathy and a medical context what i disclose more information to a person or to a computer in this case. if you listen to feelings of the instruments that steer us and whoever can control these feelings has great power over us by thinking about. algorithms instead of feelings measuring. emotion starting december sixteenth on t w. they're black and living in germany. she's reminded what that means on a daily basis presenter john up like this not being able to blend in and i was. taking a holiday group and being you know different than the way. she travelled across germany to meet other black people and to hear their stories. it's that. i grew up in a white family in a white neighborhood it was definitely a challenge. she decided to put me up for ad

still unknown. firefighters say this is old building with a lot of wood. that's part of why the damage spread so quickly. live in alexander, aimee cho, news4. >> thanks, aimee. such a shame. >>> well, as people head back to work, we are dealing with a blast of cold weather. meteorologist chuck bell joins us now. this final week of the year will be a cold one. >> yeah, even though 2017 is warmest year on record, it is going to come to end on frigid note. the cold air is here to stay for quite an extended period of time. 34 now at national airport but a light wind out of the northwest has the lynde back down into the upper 20s. current temperatures still mostly hovering near the 30 degree mark. 35 quantico. 33 in fredericks berg. if planning out your day, the high today is 37 at national airport. right around 2:30 around as late as 3:00 this afternoon. few more clouds coming in over the early night hours with temperatures upper teens and lower 20s by the time you get wednesday morning started. this is just the beginning. it's going to stay real cold through new year's eve. extended forecast coming up. >> thank you. despite

alexander with the latest. >> reporter: good morning to you. this morning, president trump is still under scrutiny. among the growing chorus of questions, what did the president know and when about michael flynn's lies to the fbi. and did the president obstruct justice? his personal lawyer is that question ignorant and irgai arrogant. but there seems to be a rift in the president's legal team. there's a debate on whether or not the president obstructed justice. >> i feel badly for general flynn. >> there is a creditable case of obstruction of justice against donald trump. >> reporter: it comes after a weekend tweet, where mr. trump said he fired flynn because he lied to the vice president and the fbi. that statement raising red flags. the agency's then-director, james comey, said the president asked him to go easy on flynn, a point the president denies. rushing to his defense, the president's personal lawyer, john dowd, saying he authored the president's tweet. saying it's ignorance and arrogant, saying the tweet admitted obstruction. the president cannot obstruct justice, because he right to expre

blayne alexander is at the white house where they have been waiting all year long for a like this. blayne? >> reporter: absolutely, leon. this bill is still its way to president trump for him to officially sign it into law but already republicans are celebrating. ♪ >> reporter: with a hard-fought tax reform rate officially one, republicans begin their victory lap at the white house. >> when you think you haven't heard this expression, but we are making america great again. you haven't heard that, have you? >> reporter: after successfully selling the bill in congress, now begins the work of selling it to the american people. >> it's the largest tax cut in the history of our country -- reform. tax cut. really something special. >> your tax rates are going down and your paychecks are going up. this is the kind of relief that americans deserve. >> reporter: for president trump, his first major legislative win delivering two campaign promises for the price of one. >> we essentially the individual mandate which was terrible. >> reporter: hours earlier, the house battling one last time over the bill that gives a permanent tax cut to corporations

alexander and what a white house official is telling him. >> you would think that would be the next logical step. but i still think there is some caution as eliza suggested, about getting behind someone, putting his name on the line, and then having the potential of a loss that he really feels deeply. i mean, he felt with luther strange that he was sort of convinced to support him because the suggestion from republican leadership was, it was a sure thing. and we know he doesn't like to lose. and it really both erers him. so not going to alabama, and he still could, it seems unlikely at this point, there's only a couple days left in the race. but not going to alabama would give him a little bit of plausible deniability. oh, i didn't go all in for roy moore, if roy moore loses. >> but you got a robocall now, it's there. so if this is the case, that we have this robocall to be used in the next couple days, is the issue of sexual misconduct, sexual assault, sexual harassment here, is it unfortunately in the rearview mirror in terms of its importance? >> well, it seems like that way. and it seemed that way in ala

alexander with the latest. good morning. >> good morning to you. this morning president trump still under scrutiny. among the growing chorus of questions what did the president know and when about michael flynn's lies to the fbi and did the president obstruct justice? his personal lawyer is calling that claim ignorant and arrogant, but at the same time right now there seems to be a growing rift within the president's legal team. >> reporter: this morning a legal debate over president trump, former national security advisor michael flynn, and whether or not the president obstructed justice. >> i feel badly for general flynn. i feel very badly. >> there is a credible case of obstruction of justice against donald trump. >> reporter: it comes after a weekend tweet where mr. trump said he fired flynn because he lied to the vice president and the fbi. that statement raising red flags because the agency's then director james comey, says the president later asked him to go easy on flynn. a point the president denies. rushing to his defense, mr. trump's personal lawyer, john dowd, saying he authored the pre

alexander, who you probably heard of. he was a detector from russia. he worked for the fsb or the kgb first and then the fsb, and in -- he was still living in russia and in 1998 he was asked to assassinate an oligarch named boris. instead of carrying out the assassination and following the offered the fsb, his employers, he held a press conference with some of his cool -- kole legals and announced they had been asked to do this. well, as you might well understand, this did not make him very popular. he was put in prison twice, and finally he knew that he was risking his life staying in russia so he deeffected to london with his family, with if wife and his son. marina, i've become friend with and the book is -- my book is actually dedicated to alexander's widow. she has been very helpful with mitchell have two chapters about the case. i'll fast forward and say i went over to london several times when they had the hearings in the high court in london, into the -- it was an inquiry into the murder and n2015, so i went over there -- in 2016 -- and attended the hearings and did some interview. so i'll just give you a little quick background and why -- wha

alexander the good stuff i think. is it. designer. and an inspiration fashion accessories. with. thirty minutes. like. me thank god and soon they'll even know how we feel. i'm not a real person but i'm still just in pieces so. scientists around the world working to measure our emotions. hopefully i can be a helpful piece a song. a virtual person as a therapist or a robotic as a teacher neither would have human empathy what does a machine need to do to create empathy and a medical context would i disclose more information to a person or to a computer in this case. a few years and lets the feelings of the instruments that steer us and whoever can control these feelings has great power over us think about it algorithms instead of feelings measuring emotion starting december sixteenth on t w. i. want to see what's going on and all of these things emerges that you know what you have to do to fight it. the sharp microscope that have been here but the knowledge there will come better and better and better over the years and you will understand how for example to the viral infection comes with both the molecular these though and therefore it will also be possible to find it much more easily by wo

alexander would scream but you'd be wrong. >> you'd be wrong. >> shepard: republican lawmakers push the final bill through. the senate expected to vote tonight. we'll see. democrats are still fighting this legislation which nancy pelosi has called armageddon. peter doocy is live on capitol hill. >> republicans have controlled the white house, the house and the senate since january and they think that today is the day they finally take advantage of having complete control over the legislative branch and the executive branch to pass what they're calling and stressing they believe is a historic tax reform package. you don't often hear cheering from members on the house floor with the exception of the president's entrance on the state of the union night. that's what we could hear from outside the chamber. when we were done, the leaders made this happen came out for a victory lap. they stress that they this this is something that everybody in america who pays tax to uncle sam is going to benefit from. >> we heard you. we heard you loud and clear. that's what this bill is about. it's about the american comeback. the opportunity to let you keep more of what you earned. to let ame

alexander shows us, the president says the investigation makes the country look bad. blayne? >> reporter: leon, he said he believes this investigation is bad for america. but still he says he has no plans to interfere. >>> president trump greeting service members at his florida golf club, but in an interview with "the new york times," taking shots at the investigation into russian election meddling led by special counsel robert mueller, saying it makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position. and on mueller, adding, it doesn't bother me because i hope that he's going to be fair. i think that he's going to be fair. a departure from some republicans in recent weeks who have questioned the investigation's credibility. >> this is disgusting, unaccountable bias. >> i think the public trust in this whole thing is gone. >> reporter: public opinion pretty evenly divided news/"wall street journal" poll showing 38% of americans believe there was collusion between russia and the trump campaign. while 35% say no. and in the interview, president trump insisting again there was none. >> [ inaudible ]. >> no, i'm not, no. >> reporter: but crit

alexander foltz's mission began. his little brother stuck in the autoimmune disorder. >>kid, christmas was my favorite holiday and it stilln idea. >> i used my allowance and random money i found in the couch to buy a few gifts for the hospital that christmas. >> reporter: he began holding fundraisers and eventually formed the nonprofit, alexander's toy truck, buying toys and clothes for babies in the nicu thee says that's okay and here's why. >> i don't get to see santa claus give me gifts. i know they're going to families that need them. >> reporter: but all that's help. ppreciativ of >> reporter: for the first time, getting to meet some of those families. >> thank you so much. >> it makes m feel awesome. >> even though they can't tell you, they really appreciate t. [ auhat an incredibly inspiring goods have been donatedhe hospital, all from the idea of a [ applause ] >>> if you still have people on your christmas list, relax, you've gotsure, sure. >> we do have solutions thankfully. >> thankfully because we have good housekeeping's lori bergamotto. she says there are still lots of great gifts out there, and apparently y

still getting used to having human beings in our life, two little human beings that we're responsible for. >> "e.t." has learned the cloon nips were gracious to fellow passengers with ella and alexander bearing the logo of his tequila company and a note that says our twins just discovered squawking. fellow passenger quentin tarantino made use of the gifts, we heard the babies behaved. >> he's a thug already. he sits and eats like this. >> and talk about generous. george's casamigos business partner revealed back in 2013, clooney held a dinner to give his besties a huge gift. >> sitting in front of each of us on the table is a black like tumi bag, and george begins to say, listen, i want you guys to know how much you've meant to me. i came to l.a. i slept on your coach. open your suitcases. >> one year to the day before marrying amal, the oscar winner, who would later celica sa mee goes for $1 billion was paying his buddies back big time. >> we opened it up, and it's a million dollars in $20 bills. every one of us, 14 of us, got a million dollars. >> rande actually told george he didn't want to take the money because he didn't need it. but george told everyone that if rande doesn't ta

still hurts? >> every second of the day. she was sent to me from god. if i could have made a list, she would've checked every box. >> reporter: on cross examination prosecutor karl alexanderat in the dark, he simply couldn't distinguish debbie from an intruder. >> you know debbie's shape. >> i know her shape, yes sir. >> she's the love of your life? >> yes sir. >> the person you know better than anybody else. >> yes, sir. >> and you can't tell it's her when you pull that trigger? >> no, sir. >> reporter: lars testified for two and a half hours, but would it be enough to convince the jury he was innocent? they now faced a decision between murder, manslaughter, or not guilty. after more than six hours, a verdict. on count one -- the murder charge. >> we the jury find the defendant lars eric itzo not guilty. >> reporter: but before anyone in the courtroom had time to react, another verdict. >> guilty of manslaughter. >> reporter: the verdict pleased almost no one. >> no, this can't be. >> reporter: for so many on debbie's side, it was as if the jury let lars off. >> disbelief, anger, beyond words. >> reporter: but lars's family believed prosecutors had it all wrong. >> it wa

alexander/murray bill are largery wiped out by the elimination of the mandate. the original estimations about how that would help shore up the health care markets, anticipated the individual mandate would still be in place. so once we get some new scoring on that, we'll see how it is. but if it's not a major fix it will be tough to see how that sails through. >> garrett haake, a lot on lawmakers' plates when they get back to washington. that extraordinary piece on saturday about a meeting that took place in june of this year centering on immigration. one line stood out to me in particular, besides the inflammatory lines the newspaper reported. during the transition, president trump's aides drafted an executive order to end the program known as deferred action for childhood arrivals but it was held back as the president struggled with conflicted feelings on those known as d.r.e.a.m.ers. do you have a sense of what the white house will be pushing for, if anything, when it comes to daca in the new year? >> those feelings do persist. the president ultimately pulled the plug on daca, he gave it a six-month timeline for congress to come up with an alternative, some legislative fix for this program

minister alexander downer who said we have formed the opinion that you are a long way to engage in conduct that not prejudiced the security officer. or of our country. and i read the us there are still there is no what it meant. malice passport is withheld because the authorities believe he could seek terrorist training in the middle east and the federal government seizes the opportunity to promote its antiterrorist credentials in the media. it came to the point where it's on what walk out onto the streets people come to me and say you are the terrorist you're the g hardest or the fundamentalist or the extremists go back home you're walk we don't want you here. we wanted to go i was born here this is my country this is all on our. isolated and increasingly paranoid zacky mela is getting attention beyond his drains. but now his jihad fantasy is starting to scare him. out of the threat of the little more door saying. jesus. course as your lord is your god get out of this country go back on. my posts the gun. those knowing that look after me. and within twenty four hours then you sell false counterterrorism unit right at my house and charge me for position over a lake of fire and. then