we'll begin with that tonight because the all-powerful house ways and means committee, which is led byemocrats as you know for now, voting tonight to release the former president donald trump's tax returns to the public. the committee's vote was along party lines, and it's a giant defeat for trump. he's fought for years now to keep all his tax information private citing audits and the like. also tonight a source saying the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is on his way to washington, d.c. at this very hour. he'll meet with the president of the united states tomorrow at the white house as expected and may also address a joint session of congress. and now here's a cnn exclusive tonight saying trump's former white house ethics lawyer told cassidy hutchinson -- remember she was the star witness of the january 6th hearings. that person apparently gave her the advice to give misleading testimony to the committee. and yes, i said a white house ethics lawyer, so you try to figure that out if you can. i want to start now with cnn chief congressional correspondent manu raju who is live on

i'm ali velshi, congressmen richie neal, the chair of the house ways and means committee. he's speaking now. they voted to release donald trump's tax returns. let's listen in. >> a lot of big accomplishments over at the house ways and means committee. but certainly what you can tell this evening, part of what we have accomplished was contentious. i recommend that you read the two reports endorsed by the house ways and means on taxation. for all practical purposes, the research that was done as it relates to the mandatory audit program was nonexistent. the tax forms were really never audited. and only my sending a letter at one point prompted a rear view mirror response. i advise again that the mandatory program is highlighted in what you will likely get in the next few minutes or so. it was almost nonexistent. and my point is that, that was the legislative purpose with which we won four federal court decisions in three courts. we argued for an examination of how the audit process played out. once staff went to visit the irs, and one staff had a chance to go to some of the o

lauren, it's a little bit complicated, but what did the house ways and means committee just vote momentsrelease? >> well, we expect that any minute, we are going to get a report from the house ways and means committee that is going to summarize a couple of things. but this committee voted first to release a report as well as the underlying tax returns that they had requested. that, of course, extremely significant, john, for all the reasons you just reminded viewers about. the former president had promised repeatedly to release those returns, never did on the campaign trail some point with some heavy redactions. now first off, we expect that report any minute from the house ways and means committee. it will summarize their findings. it will also include a report from the joint committee on taxation. that's the official tax committee up here on capitol hill. that will include a report as well. and then they're going to be working to redact personal information from the tax returns, and then at some point in the next hours or days, we will start to see those. so very, very significant toni

and our team has been combing through this report of the house ways and means committee voted to releasecratic congressman of michigan dan kildee. > there's two things. one is the extent to which the former president trump used the tax code to his benefit. now, you know, that could be very legal. i'm not sure that we could come to any conclusions about the legality. there are questions that are unanswered. there are a lot of claims that lack documentation, use of charitable contributions or charitable donations, loans to family members that need to be examined. there is a whole lot there. and it's

the house ways and means committee to representative richard neal, a democrat from massachusetts, said the mandatory tax audits of former president trump's tax returns were almost nonexistent as he and fellow democrats hold a press conference after the debate on the release of president trump's tax returns. here is a portion of his comment. [video clip] >> for all practical purposes, the tax forms were nonexistent. they were never audited. only my sending a letter at one point prompted a rearview mirror response. i emphasize again that the mandatory program as highlighted in what you will likely get in the next few minutes or so was almost nonexistent. my point is that was the legislative purpose with which we won four federal court decisions in three courts. we argue for an examination of how the audit process played out. once staff went to visit the irs , and once staff had a chance to go to smooth the other locations within the jurisdiction of the irs, they quickly concluded that , in fact, the audit did not occur. there were no audits in a timely manner and that goes for 2017, 2018

i'm ali velshi, congressmen -- and the chair of the house ways and means committee. peaking now. they voted to release donald trump's tax returns. listen in. >> a lot of big accomplishments over the house ways and means committee. but certainly what you can tell this evening, part of what we have accomplished was pretentious. i recommend that you read the two reports endorsed by the house ways and means on guy taxation. for all financial purposes, the research that was done as it relates to the mandatory audit program was nonexistent. the tax forms we are really never audited. and only by sending a letter at one point, at a review mirror response. i advise again that the mandatory program is highlighted in what you will likely get in the next few minutes or so. it was almost nonexistent. and my point is that, that was a legislative purpose with which we won for federal court decisions and three courts. we argued for an examination of how the audit process played out. once staff went to visit the irs, and one staff had a chance to go to some of the other locations with

way back in 2019, the house ways and means committee subpoenaed six years worth of trump's tax returns from the treasury department in the irs. they actually use the same legal mechanism that congress used way back in the 1970s to get the rest of president nixon's taxes. but rather than complying, as nixon did, trump started a more than three year long legal battle which went all the way up to the supreme court. and just last month, the court ruled on the side of the committee. what is really amazing here is how down to the wire the saw was. i mean, trump tried to pull his typical delay, delay, delay move. and it almost worked. because in a week and a half, republicans take control the house. and they would have almost certainly put the kibosh on this entire thing. but tonight, just over an hour ago, the house ways and means committee voted along party lines to release trump's tax returns from 2015 to 2020. now, the actual process of releasing the may take a few days. the committee is going to put out its report with its analysis. but it's also going to put up trump's raw tax returns f

a democrat on the house ways and means committee joins us to push back in criticism by trump and house republicans. stand by for that. >> plus, we'll have a report from ukraine on new russian attacks and a potentially ominous meeting between vladimir putin and chinese president xi jinping. m. we're providing greater access to investiting, with low-cost options to helelp maximize savings. from t the plains to the coast, we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive. (woman) what would the ideal weight loss program look like? no hunger, no cravings, no isolation, more energy, lasting results, and easy. is that possible? it is with golo. these people changed their lives with golo without starvation dieting. whether you have 100 pounds to lose or want to shed those final 20, try golo for 60 days and never diet again. (uplifting music) >>> tonight, a trove of new information in two separate investigations of former president donald trump. six years of his tax returns released by the house ways and means committee, and more witness transcripts were also made public b

house ways and means committee voted to release tonight. i want to get right to democratic congressman of michigan dan kildee. > there's two things. one is the extent to which the former president trump used the tax code to his benefit. now, you know, that could be very legal. i'm not sure that we could come to any conclusions about the legality. there are questions that are unanswered. there are a lot of claims that lack documentation, use of charitable contributions or charitable donations, loans to family members that need to be examined. there is a whole lot there. and it's really interesting to see the exten

discourse but will ultimately be in the public interest. >> i want to play for you, the house ways and means committee member and republican karen brady's response to what just happened. let's listen to this together. >> going forward, the majority chairman of the house ways and means committee and the finance committee, we'll have nearly unlimited power to target and make public the tax returns of public citizens. and not just private citizens, political enemies, business leaders, or even the returns of supreme court justices themselves. >> i want to ask you about that, chuck, that is an argument that republicans have made. that if you do this, if you allow donald trump's returns to be forced to be made public, you create a president in which any american who is targeted by the government, who the government or majority party in congress does not like. they can make the tax returns public? talk to me about this argument, is it a good argument, is it sound, does it make sense? >> well it's a retaliatory downward spiral that we worry about. ali. is it a good argument? it's a terrible argument. well let

house ways and _ on that? as much as the house ways and means _ on that? as much as the house ways and means committeeh as the house| ways and means committee say on that? as much as the house i ways and means committee say it is for a legislative purpose they will be using this in 2024 and 20 do whatever information comes out, if there is tax avoidance, if there is lending with foreign governments. what i am really interested to see is whether any republican challenges to trump, what they do with this information, like florida governor ron desantis who is presumably awful to be going to be potentially challenging trump. will any republicans jump challenging trump. will any republicansjump on challenging trump. will any republicans jump on board with this information? that is something i am definitely going to be looking out for.— to be looking out for. thank ou so to be looking out for. thank you so much. _ media organisations in the us are reporting that ukraine's president volodomyr zelensky will visit washington on wednesday. the ukrainian leader is expected to meet president biden and congression

house ways and means committee voted tuesday night straight down party lines to make former presidenttrump's tax returns public. overnight the panel released a committee report about its probe and its initial review of the tax papers, revealing among other things the irs did not do the mandatory presidential audits of trump during his first two years in office and never completed any audits while he served. >> they quickly concluded that in fact the audit did not occur. >> reporter: that's despite trump's perennial claims he couldn't share his taxes with the public because he was under audit. >> i've been under audit for so many years. every year i get audited. >> reporter: according to the committee report tax forms show trump's reported more losses than gains in six years since 2015 and paid little to no federal income taxes between 2015 and 2020, something he bragged about during the presidential debate against hillary clinton. >> and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax. so -- >> that makes me smart. >> reporter: trump's supporters in congress called the release an abu

hot beats flu. >>> the house ways and means committee only had their hands on former president trump'sew weeks, but check out what they have spotted already and they believe the irs needs to examine closely. trump carried a net operating loss in 2015 of $105 million and then carried that operating loss over for several more years. he made loans to his children. loans that apparently concerned the house ways and means committee because they could be gift disguised as loans to avoid the gift tax. djt holdings cost of goods sold but did not say what goods had been told. that is all from the house and ways committee meeting after the historic vote to release trump's tax returns. that is what we found here from the very initial speed read. our sahil kapur has been cramming this report, and he joins us now. sahil, granted, we had this for a matter of minutes but what is the top line here? what can you tell us about what you're seeing in the reports? >> yeah, alex, i've been attempting a speed read, too, of these multiple report that the committee has put out, one by the ways and means and on

ranking republican on the ways and means committee, congressman kevin brady, he said this week -- we'll, have a listen to what he said. >> going forward, the majority chairman of the house ways and means committee and the senate finance committee will have nearly unlimited power to target and make public the tax returns of private citizens. and not just private citizens, political enemies, business and labor leaders or even the returns of supreme court justices themselves. >> congressman, he makes it sound like a bad thing. i, for one, would be happy to see the tax returns of supreme court -- top supreme court justices, thomas clarence and others. -- >> supreme court justices should be public. i think that's in the public interest. but put that aside for a second. his main claim that, suddenly now, every feature ways and means committee is going to be able, on a whim, to get the tax returns of political enemies and release them -- there was a crocodile tears. remember, it took us four years in the courts to be able to do this. ultimately, a republican dominated supreme court found in our favor. and the reason why they found in our favor is because we were able to demons

and our team has been combing through this report of the house ways incoming committee has voted to release tonight. i want to get right to democratic congressman of michigan, he's on the house ways and means committee, anything in the time to join us this evening. congressman, thank you for being here. now, you have seen these tax returns. and i'm wondering what did you learn given the fact that part of it we've seen some portions of his tax information, you've got the cases in new york, you've got the 2020 new york times exposÉ piece, what were the key takeaways from this actual return? >> there's two things. one is the extent to which the former president trump used the tax code to his benefit. now, you know, that could be very legal. i'm not sure that we could come to any conclusions about the legality. there are questions that are unanswered. there are a lot of claims that lack documentation, use of charitable contributions or charitable donations, loans to family members that need to be examined. there is a whole lot there. . and it's really interesting to see the extent to which the president, than then president, was able to avoid what most of us would say is this fair share of tax

. >> a party-line vote, the house ways and means committee approved the release of tax filing informationp between the years 2015 and 2020. the committee only recently received the documents, following a three-year legal fight that

court said, without offering any comment, that the treasury had to hand them over to the house ways and means committeeed in an investigation, looking at where tax officials are properly auditing presidential candidates and whether any new legislation is needed. so, that that investigation is about more than donald trump, but this has become about donald trump in large part because of the way in which the issue has been but of course as well because people are simply curious as to why donald trump has insisted for all of these years that these documents, these tax returns be kept private. will americans see them, do you think? will they become public? i think that is quite likely. there is not a mechanism where the house ways and means committee has to make the documents public, but they will be scrutinising them over the next few weeks, and time is against them to do that. republicans take control of the house of representatives injanuary. we have got christmas approaching, so really about three weeks for this particular committee before it's dismounted and the republicans take control of all of the c

that he said the democratically controlled committee, this is the ways and means committee in the ways and means committee in the housef representatives had been politically motivated to have those made public and we are in the final few weeks of democratic control of that committee, and the decision at the end of the day was made, it seems, along party lines. so, with the democrats in that committee voting to make public donald trump's tax returns from the six years that they had requested. the republicans have been objecting to this, insisting that this could in future be used as, they have put it, a political weapon against other politicians. so, what it means is in the next few days, and it could take a few days, and it could take a few days, and it could take a few days, those tax returns will be released with some reductions. in other words they will be certain areas that will be blacked out to hide any personal, confidential information of mr trump but by and large most of the information will be made public for accountants across this country to analyse and figure out and answer the question you posed! why has

what we are learning based on two reports, both from the house ways and means committee, as well as the committee, is just a fuller picture of the former president's tax practices. one thing that became clear is the i.r.s. did not follow its own protocols when it came to auditing an incoming president, using what they call the mandatory audit program. what's supposed to happen is when a new president and vice president comes in, their taxes are supposed to be reviewed, but according to the democrats on the house ways and means committee, that did not happen for the first two years, only happened after the chair of the committee requested tax returns for six years, arguing he needed to see them if he could understand that the program was working properly. >> lauren fox, thank you so much. >>> joining me is brendan boyle. he voted last night to have the records released. thank you for being here. we know there are legal restraints on what you call could and could not say and talk about in what you've seen in the tax -- what you see in tax and financial information that comes before the co

the house ways and means committee committee released six years of trump's tax returns.eporter has more on that. >> reporter: thousands of pages of trump's tax returns show the former president paid relatively little in federal taxes, from 2015 through the end of his term, including a zero dollar federal tax bill in 2020 as his businesses struggled. the returns showing that despite a pledge to donate his 400,000 dollar presidential salary, he reported, no charitable comes contributions in 2020, and also, showing the billionaire mr. trump losing money in four of the six years cover. the final report shows, he maintained for bank accounts in china, united kingdom, and island. and in 2020, reported $78 million in income, but even greater losses. in 15 countries, including china, qatar, and turkey. there were transposed today after the supreme court ruled in favor of the house ways and means committee in november, ending a three-year legal battle. >> mr. snyder -- >> a party line committee vote last, week authorized their return to release with reductions. mr. trump firing b

the house ways and means committee voted to release six years of records in 2016 to 2020. xation to returns raised questions about millions of dollars in charitable donations, and it claims that trump reported huge losses from year to year to reduce his tax liability to zero. a spokesperson for the president called the release an unprecedented leap by a lame duck presidents playing a losing political game. now in another big heading for donald, trump sources say that the house committee investigating the u.s. capitol riots and trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election has started handing over evidence from its probe to the justice department, a panel is recommending criminal charges against the former president and others. cnn's sara murray has more. >> as the january six committee investigating the attack on the u.s. capitol repairs to release its final report on wednesday, and begins to release the transcript, we're learning that sources familiar with the matter that they have already begun sharing transcripts with the department of justice. this is significant becaus

up to most of the legal wrangling houses, ways and means committee says records show, trump paid no income tax and 2020 brazil government just to clear 3 days of morning following the death of legendary football of pele. he died at the age of 18. tim vickery is a football journalist in brazil, he explains why pilot is regarded as the greatest for bola, ever. he was born just 52 years after brazil abolished slavery. and here we are, him leaving the same and the word that's being used a lot is king, the undisputed king of the global game. so what that tells you, i think, is 2 things. number one, it tells you about the extraordinary talents and determination of pele. but also about the democratic nature of the game itself. at football, a game, you don't need money, you don't need expensive equipment. it's opens all shapes and sizes. and what he does is drag foot or into the mob nij. he is so far ahead of its time. it's unreal . if you watch clips of him, it's a little bit like as if for a modern player, with all the advantages of contemporary, physical preparation and dietary knowledge has be

. >>> tomorrow, the house ways and means committee could pave the way to release six years of donald trump's tax returns and wednesday is the final report from the january 6th committee, and we are covering it all. plus, the leaders of another far-right extremist group are set to stand trial connected to the capitol attack. first it was the oath keepers. now it's the proud boys. let's go for the very latest now on this monumental week. let's bring in nbc news capitol correspondent ali vitali and nbc news justice correspondent ken dilanian. ali, the january 6th committee finalizes criminal referral plan for trump. what is it, ali? >> reporter: yesterday, my colleagues and i spent the day outside the hearing room where the january 6th committee was rehearsing for this final meeting today. we were able to overhear them going through some of the criminal referral trials that they are likely to make public against former president donald trump today. you know and mentioned at the top of the show, we can put them on the screen for viewers, they include conspiracy to defraud the government,

. >> a party-line vote, the house ways and means committee approved the release of tax filing informationrom former president donald trump between the years 2015 and 2020. the committee only recently received the documents, following a three-year legal fight that ended with the supreme court deciding last month the congress have the right to review the material. the committee said they were seeking the tax returns as part of an investigation into irs audit practices of presidents and vice presidents. up next, reaction from committee members after the vote. [indiscernible conversations] >> so, -- so regrettably, the deed is done. over our objections and opposition, democrats on the ways and means committee have unleashed a dangerous new political weapon that overturns decades of privacy protections. the era of political targeting and of congress' enemies list is back. every american taxpayer who may get on the wrong side of the majority in congress is now at risk. our worry is this will launch a dangerous new era, a new political background where politics gets more divisive, more painful a

without offering any comment that the treasury department have to hand them over to the house ways and means committeeolved an investigation looking at whether tax officials are properly auditing presidential candidates and whether any new legislation is needed, so that investigation is about more than donald trump but this has become about donald trump, in large part because of the way in which the issue has been politicised, but of course as well because people are simply curious as to why donald trump has insisted for all of these years that these documents, these tax returns, be kept private. these tax returns, be kept rivate. ~ �* , , private. will americans see them, do — private. will americans see them. do you _ private. will americans see them, do you think? - private. will americans see them, do you think? will . private. will americans see i them, do you think? will they become public? i them, do you think? will they become public?— become public? i think that is uuite become public? i think that is quite likely- _ become public? i think that is quite likely. there _ become public? i think

as of right now, the house ways and means committee has access to those returns and could see them for the first time during a meeting later today. democrats will have just five weeks then to dig through the returns because that's when republicans take over. their current leader warning yesterday that one of his first goals is to investigate the investigators. he sent them a letter warning them to do something already required under house rule ps let's bring in our panel. ali, where do things stand with these tax returns? because the manhattan district attorney has already gotten a lot of tax returns from possible prosecution, what specifically is the committee looking for? >> it's hard to know what you're looking for when you don't know what's this these returns in the first place. though the thing that's changed from 2019 when the chairman of the house ways and means committee first put the request forward for these tax returns is we know more than we did then, which is because we have seen them both from places like "the new york times" able to do the reporting that ended up showing

i'm ali velshi, congressmen richie neal, the chair of the house ways and means committee. king now. they voted to release donald trump's tax returns. let's listen in. >> a lot of big accomplishments over at the house ways and means committee. but certainly what you can tell this evening, part of what we have accomplished was contentious. i recommend that you read the two reports endorsed by the house ways and means on taxation. for all practical purposes, the research that was done as it relates to the mandatory audit program was nonexistent.

the house ways and means committee is ready to gavel in any minute. this is a meeting literally years in the making. lawmakers set to vote maybe as soon as this hour on whether to release donald trump's personal tax returns. our political and legal team is here standing by, so let's get right to it. i'm lindsey reiser in for hallie jackson, and let's go into the hearing right now. >> 6103, given the confidential nature of the subject matter, i now move that pursuant to claus 2g1 of house rule 11, the committee proceed to executive session. mr. chairman if i may be recognized. mr. chairman i ask unanimous consent if any taxpayer information is public as a result of the mark of today, the entirety of today's executive transcript be made public as well. this transparency is precedent as we've discussed in 2014 and 2019. >> i think we're in broad agreement with the gentleman's request. is there any objection? hearing none, the question is on the ranking member's request that the documents -- not the documents, that the proceedings be made public at the ap

president's tax returns for auditing and that is a violation of its own policies and so now the house ways and means committee legislation to actually make that a law that the president's tax returns have to be audited every year and it's not just irs policy >> what's the one big thing you're looking ahead to, carol, when these returns get released in full? sometime in the next few days we anticipate >> this is what the irs in many years has not looked at is these massive deductions and expenses for deductions that apparently trump and his organizations took in order to, in order to off set income so in other words, expenses and various real estate deductions, which seem to have been very, very inflated. those are the deductions that have to be looked at in order to do that, you have to go to third parties and say how much money was really spent here how much did the trump organization really spend? there is some investigative leg work that has to be done, but that's what audits are about and it is true that prosecutors probably had a lot of the tax returns already, but building a criminal case against trump

but of course, as we now know from the house ways and means committee, they did not. sten holmes, thank you r that. >>> joining us to glenda blair, he's the author of "the trumps, three generations that built an empire." thank you very much for joining us this morning. >> hi there. nice to see you. >> thank you, you as well. what are your initial impressions of the release of these tax documents? what do they mean, with everything you know of the family? >> i would have been shocked if there had been anything other than this trail of, you know, minimum to no tax paying, dodging every possible direction. it's what his dad did. it's the family culture. he was successful. he's right about that. in avoiding taxes. >> right. and that's something that he has bragged about openly on many occasions. and a lot of his supporters have sort of say, yeah, he's smart, he doesn't pay his taxes. trump responding that, quote, his tax returns show once again how proudly successful i have been. and how i've been able to use depreciation and various other tax deduction us as incentive for

. >>> plus, the house ways and means committee is expected to publicly release former president donald trump tax returns soon. could that complicate any of his criminal investigations? we'll discuss. >>> and a little later, who was more empathetic? women or men? a new global study says it's found the answer. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... the burning, itching. the pain. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 16 weeks. the majority of people saw 90% clearer skin even at 5 years. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®. ask your doctor about tremfya® today. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price.

tonight, after years of legal battles, the house ways and means committee has the taxes, they're deciding whether to release them now. today, the image, aides wheeling them into the meeting where the committee is now debating what to do next. so, let's get right to jonathan karl tonight. >> reporter: tonight, boxes apparently containing donald trump's tax returns were wheeled in to the house ways and means committee room, expected to soon be released to the public after a years-long court battle. major presidential candidates have traditionally released their tax returns, but not tump. >> they've been under audit for a long time. the irs does not treat me well. >> reporter: democrats argued they needed to see the returns to inform legislation and new guidelines around presidential ethics. just last month, the supreme court ruled against trump's efforts to keep them secret. but with only a few weeks before republicans take over congress, democrats had little time to review the documents. >> i firmly believe that it is in the public interest to have as much transparency as possible. so, yes

democrats on the house ways and means committee voted to release trump's returns. a member of that committee joins me ahead. >>> also, snow and temperatures are beginning to fall across the country. more than 90 million americans are understood winter weather alerts. how this is already impacting people trying to get to their holiday destinations. that's a ahead. you. you're slinging tacos and you've got a minute between orders to handle payroroll. what do you do?? step one, type 'run payroll', respond to a couple questions, and that's it... done! and they're paid tomorrow, not four days from now. if you know how to send a text, you know how to use roll. go to getroll.com/tv and get your first three months free and unlimited payroll. i was born here, i'm from here, and i'm never leaving here. i'm a new york hotel. yeah, i'm tall. 563 feet and 2 inche i'm on top of the worl i'm looking r someone who likes to be in the middlof it all, but also likes some peace and quiet. you hungry? i know a place, and few others nearby. it's the city that never sleeps, but hey, if yo

house. he sits down with c-span to reflect on his life and career am including his time as a member of the house ways and means committeend his love for congressional baseball. terms -- 26 years. why now? rep brady i think ultimately it 26 years is enough. it has been a wonderful run. i love my job and it was just time. i am not leaving because i am disheartened or disappointed -- i am not. actually the opposite. i am optimistic about what a congress can do. i know who is here. what i always tell my folks back home is that there is a middle-class in congress like there is in america. these are really decent people who work hard and take their job seriously, they tried to do the right thing every day but they do not say outrageous things or do outrageous things. just try to do a good job. if we could introduce america to the middle class in congress they would have more confidence in what this institution can do. host: do you remember the moment when you decided this is that? i am going to leave congress and why? rep brady: i sort of do, my wife and i talked about it some and also, it is harder to make the decision then

so we could see, potentially in the future, depending on what the house ways and means committee decides to do with these returns, what else might be buried in six years of trump's tax returns. it is not anything the public will see anytime soon, and this committee has just weeks before they wrap up to really decide how they want to handle them as well. >> all right jessica, thank you so much for that. we are going to talk about these one at a time, starting first with the january 6th committee, and possible criminal referrals, the perspective from two legal analyst, elie honig who is a prosecutor in the southern district. as deputy attorney general during the obama administration. ali, to you, if the january six committee does go down the path of issuing criminal referrals, how much weight does that have with the justice department? what does the justice department actually care here? >> the legal answer is zero. a criminal referral from congress or anybody else is simply about political symbolism, really. it is just a request from congress saying hey, doj, we would like you to investig

montes technical experts to the senate finance committee, the tax revenue committee in the senate, the house raise ways and means committee in the senate and in the house. the joint tax committee staff, we have the senate finance committee, staff always regarded as the kind of high level of the game. even wiser and capable of more expertise looking at these things than normal committee staff. are the committee staff are the best there is. there is just an even higher level than that. what have you found in the joint tax committee specific analysis of these tax returns? >> they have had to do an analysis in a very short period of time, basically since thanksgiving. and they identified about ten areas that need further exploration. overall, unlike most taxpayers, who would go in an audit, there is no substantiation here for much of anything. the irs said -- trump's word or that of his accounting firm, and i found most troubling the fact that in 2015, each bill was relying on tax loss carried for about 100 and, five 100 and $7 million. that along with other deductions and credits that he claimed meant that in a num

house committee has released 6 years of donald trump's tax returns. the poor president fought for years to keep them secret. last week, the democrat controlled house ways and means committee motor to release prompt tax records from 2015 to 20. 20. they are likely to provide new revelations about his finances in control was the 1st presidential candidate. decades suv refused to release his tax records. republicans are about to take control of the house of representatives. are corresponded, stuff on seamans has more from washington. so ever, what do these documents tell us about donald trump? draw ah, the reset button 1st. so this is a ongoing chart for 7 years. why? because tundra was the only and 1st president who refused to make his text records public, this is something u. s. presidents or candidates for u. s. presidents and then when they are heading into the final election fight with another container, one that is a doing normally they released their tax records. he did not. he forwarded all the way the supreme court gave finally a clear way to do this. and now there you have it, and let me just tell you the overall 1st impression is, remember when he said o

house committee has released 6 years of donald trump's tax returns, the former president ford for years to keep them secret. last week the democratic controlled house ways and means committee voted to release trumps tax records from 2015 to 2020. they're likely to provide new revelations about his finances. trump was the 1st presidential candidate in decades who refused to release his tax records. and this all comes with republicans, a bag to take control of the house of representatives. well the w correspondence to me so much kind of has more from washington, dc to me, great to see you. so this was a legal battle of several years to get the documents released. they finally been released. so what previously unknown information have they revealed so public, we've learned important details about how much the former president did and did not pay in taxes. we learned more about how much he donated over the years. we learned about some of his foreign holdings and also how some of his businesses performed. and for example, we knew already that he didn't pay any federal income tax and the year 2020. that's because his businesses took some big hits because of a pandemic.

the january 6th committee is set to release its full report and the house ways and means committee isverybody can see exactly what was going on there. let's get right to our reporters, nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali, and nbc news white house correspondent carol lee. carol, i'll start with you. what do we know so far about how this trip, volodymyr zelenskyy, making his first known trip outside of ukraine since the invasion began -- how this trip was planned? and what's at stake and what's on the schedule today? >> sure, mika. well in terms of how it was planned, the white house officials say that this is something that's been in the works for about ten days. that president biden raised the issue about president zelenskyy visiting washington in a call on december 11th. then followed up with a formal invitation on december 14th, just this past sunday, president zelenskyy accepted that invitation and said that the u.s. and ukrainians have been figuring out security things and issues and how to get him here safely. obviously, this is something that comes with a tremendous a

the house ways and means committee has voted to release trump's 2015 through 2020 returns and an accompanying report shows he claimed huge on perfect racing losses to reduce his tax liabilities to zero and it raises questions of millions of dollars of charitable contributions. the internal revenue service never properly scrutinized the returns as is required by the mandatory audit program. >> the tax forms were really never audited and only my signing a letter at one point prompted sort of a rear-view mirror response. >> the start of this examination wasn't even begun until after trump left office so there is something clearly wrong here. the american people have a right to know about this alarming state of noncompliance with the mandatory presidential audit. but you know what, they can't take our word for it. they need to see the returns themselves. >> personal information like bank accounts and social security numbers are being redacted from the tax returns right now. they could be available to the public within just a few days. cnn's chief congressional correspondent manu raju has the deta

breakdown with few people to explain where and why the breakdown happened but that was the point of the committee in the first place. neil: the house ways and meanscommittee has donald trump's tax records over six years and they might be released today. do you think they should be released? >> former president trump famously in that debate bragged about not paying taxes because he said he was smart and he was right that the system didn't work. a lot of folks don't have to pay taxes. that is what we are going to see. the problem with the whole thing is he didn't fix it. that's one of the reasons he got elected in 2016, he was in that game. he understood that he could be the want to go to washington and drive the solutions but nothing got fixed, nothing got adjusted by either party. everyone walked away from it. that's the biggest frustration with this process. they could release the taxes, that's up to them. i could care less but the most important thing we take from it is there was no action because of it. do we have faith of the reaction moving forward or is this just another political witchhunt trying to garner political headlines? people said

and that is only after the request by the ways and means committee in the house to get his tax records. very unusual, and certainly there's going to be hard questions for the iris to answer as to why it did not conduct orders during those early years of his presidency. many thanks, mike mike hanner, live in washington dc. brazil's government has declared 3 days of morning following the death of football legend pele tributes of pouring in from around the world for the 82 year old who died out for a long battle with cancer has been described as the eternal king and the most divine of footballers into modern reports. a footballing giant looked down on a nation in mourning landmarks across brazil, pink tribute to the mad, widely regarded as the greatest player of all time. all he nancy her for his whole career since he was a little boy who grew up in a poor community. she stood out for being the best player in the world. we who witnessed philly and life have a feeling of gratitude towards him. kelly was playing the national team by 16, done, and by 17. his 2 amazing goals in the final one,

house is releasing a full report any moment now. it will outline a case that the committee has made for charging president trump with several crimes including aiding insurrection, and there is also the house ways and meansee voting last night to release the tax returns. the ukrainian president is scheduled to meet with president biden at the white house as well as go to a capital and meet with a joint meeting of the house and senate. of course, we are talking about immigration. but we want to get more of your calls. whatever is on your mind. again, republicans, your line is 8000 one, democrats, call us at 202 8000, and independence, call us at 8002. our next caller is on the independent line. from boston massachusetts, good morning. >> good morning. i have a question for you. i've a question for the gas. al green. the representative. host: busy and entertainer? host:it is not the same name it thank you. host: let's go to anthony. he is calling as a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. ever since you got on, you and me, with my 30 days, i've wanted to tell you welcome. you and me have been doing a great job. i've talked to all of you, and i thank you for the show. our representatives have a voic

and 4 new lines for $25 bucks a line. >>> tonight, trump's tax returns are in the hands of house democrats in the house ways and means committeeu can get the tax returns that no one's ever seen. they cover six years of former president trump's taxes. information about his personal finances, corporate entities. this is crucial stuff. "out front" is lloyd doggett. congressman, i spoke with you the night the supreme court gave you the green light to get trump's taxes. here we are ten days later. the committee has got them in hand. what is the committee doing with them right now. >> erin, finally after making the motion in february 2017, almost five years ago, the ways and means chairman has access to those returns. the we had a meeting yesterday. he explained the process. he indicated that he did have access to them, that he had pointed the -- some steps, individuals, his agents not to go through and i believe that is something that needs to approach expeditiously. there are only a few days left where democrats will be in restructuring and then safe for 2 1/2 years with a trump-appointed judge. you need to meet in executive sessi