florida spend the nicks severex days in florida, he has the mar-a-lago resort, no doubt playing some golf but major work as well. that's it for me. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in the situation room. newsroom with brooke baldwin starts right now. >>> lfrall right. you are watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin friday before christmas. and for the first time in 15 years the president of the united states held no end of the year news conference although he is certainly enjoying taking pictures and shaking hands, as he's about to get r & r with his holiday with his family. mentioned moments ago, obviously the president landed there in west palm beach to spend the christmas holiday at mar-a-lago. the president did take a couple questions in the oval office just before leaving washington. it happened while he signed into law his historic tax cuts. this is the most substantial set of tax reforms in 31 years. and the president says he doesn't plan on trying to sell them to the american people. he says no need. this despite the fact that the majority of people cnn polled opposed the tax reductio

he likes when we say mar-a-lago, mar-a-lago, mar-a-lago. >> and we're not as close to him at mar-a-lago as we are at the white house. on mar-a-lago, the press are kept off the premises. >> all right. let's bring our panel back in. i think it would be a good idea to fact check the president as far as the size and scope of this cut. >> sure. there are a few things the president said. look, let me just say this is obviously an extraordinary moment for the president. he caps this year with his first major legislative achievement that not only cuts taxes steeply, it repeals the mandate and opens up anwar to drilling. that's not trivial. there are a few things he said that i -- excuse me -- don't quite measure up to the fact. number one, he said this would be the largest tax cut in american history. that's not true. in terms of inflation adjusted dollars, it's not even the largest this decade. president obama signed a larger one in 2013 while extending and making permanent most of the bush tax cuts. he mentioned he signed the most pieces of legislation into law of any president in recent hist

i mean he is the king of mar-a-lago. i think what the interview showed is that he was relaxed, he was talking to the reporter, and the aides probably didn't like it because they didn't really have any control over it. but with that said, as everybody knows, really nobody has much control over donald trump. i think he likes it that way. you know, he's gotten a lot of things passed. he's gotten a lot of good things done. and mar-a-lago is his stomping grounds. so i'm sure that the aides, i'm sure a lot of people did not like that, but you've got to understand the atmosphere of mar-a-lago is very relaxed. >> have you been there? sorry to interrupt. >> yes, i've been there -- i have and it's beautiful. it's a wonderful place. you know, i've known many members there and i've gone there, and it's a relaxing, beautiful place. not only that, but a lot of the people that work there, a lot of the staff have been there many years. and he's very good to his employees. so it's a great atmosphere. so obviously he was very relaxed. he

howard, you have the whole mar-a-lago, amid club members there. does that access concern you or do you think it poses an optics problem for the president, or, hey, just a matter of consequence? >> there's two issues here. one is shared by both parties. their access does concern me. both parties do it. the money goes to campaigns. the problem for trump, this money is going into his pocket. these people are paying $750. it's going into the mar-a-lago which he owns and, therefore, benefits from it. this is direct not just disguised as campaign contributions which everybody does which is sick as it is. we ought to get rid of and change the financing of campaigns, this is a direct payment to donald trump. >> let's break that down as far as, you know, what's in that amount of money as far as getting you in the door. some critics are pointing to the hike in the prices. you have the jump in the initiation fees, the president's frequent trips there as a potential ethics violation. given the president maintains ownership of mar-a-lago, should the white hous

at the president's mar-a-lago resort.ast hour we saw the president for a fourth day at trump international in his golf gear. but this time with members of the coast guard who he invited over to hit the links. but we begin with something else that happened at the trump international. specifically in the grill room. the president's impromptu interview with "the new york times." and, it was illuminating. >> just when you think you'll have a slow friday before new year's, a "new york times" reporter stumbles upon the president of the united states in the grill room at mar-a-lago and launches an unbelievable interview. >> president trump unplugged in a brand-new "new york times" interview. >> donald trump spoke to a "new york times" reporter alone without any aides or staffers present. >> the core of this interview is the president playing the hits. talking about the 2016 election, his electoral victory, and the investigations into him and to his 2016 opponent hillary clinton. >> he says he knew more about

president trump heading to florida this hour to spend the holiday break at his mar-a-lago estate after helping to deliver the gift of sweeping tax reform to america. hello and welcome to "happening now." i'm rick leventhal and for jon scott. the girl the president preparing to sign the largest tax overhaul inducted into law. he's also expected to sign a measure to fund the government till january 19th. congress avoiding a shutdown but setting up a showdown on hot button issues like immigration, health care, and the budget all want the holiday break is over. the present expressing optimism that congress will come together and get things done. >> rick: mr. trump tweeting, "at some point, and for the good of the country, i predict we will start working with the democrats in a bipartisan fashion. infrastructure would be a perfect place to start. after having foolishly spent $7 trillion in the middle east, it is time to start rebuilding our country." fox business network is a lie from the white house with more. i understand the president is in the oval office right now signing the tax bill.

he will spend the holidays at his mar a lago resort in palm beach.enate are oust session, but they left plenty of unfinished business behind. let's discuss this and more with rick santorum and to former president obama. for coming in, you see all the concerns and they could lose the house and the senate. how worried should your fellow republicans be? >> less worried now that they got the bill passed. this will be their signature accomplishment and i hope they get more done. if you listened to mitch mcconnell, they don't sound like they want to do any more. he said we are pretty much done unless they get bipartisan things done. the chances are pretty small. this is what mitch mcconnell thinks they will run on. it will help them, but my recommendation is, keep working. you have a lot more work to do and people will take a crack at health care and do something on infrastructure. there a lot of other things that need to be done. >> for seven or eight years, middle class families will see a little bit bigger paycheck. that will have a positive impact for

who paid $200,000 to join mar-a-lago.elieve they doubled it as soon as he was elected president. >> they did. >> so a lot of rich people are hanging around the president and enjoying their tax cut because they got lion's share of the tax cut. and i hope they have a good new years eve celebrating. >> i wish everyone a happy new years. >> he said has the totally normal new years eve party. what do you mean? most people don't get a chance to auction off access. here's his vacationing during the first year according to travel. which i think shows two things. i'll curious what you think. he doesn't work a lot. if you don't want to be effective, maybe you welcome that. but number two, he is constantly promoting his own properties. >> the promotion is really something. there hasn't been a president in my lifetime who has done this. the emoluments clause, you're not supposed to take foreign money to influence your policy. i thought it was a far flung argument. i'm not an attorney. it is clear his staff are shaking down foreign go

transition officials and who was around at mar a lago, you can figure it out. them are not in the administration anymore. jared kushner, his wife and maybe one or two other people are it. they are starting to widdle it down. the main question is what the president knew and whether any this gets to him. >> we determine whether flynn spoke on his own and what knew and approved of his actions. they must be allowed to continue without interference. it's called the logan act, but private citizens, even transition officials are not supposed to meddle in the business of the united states government until they are in the united states government. >> i think we are in wait and see mode as we have been for a long time, but this is materially different than the papadopoulos thing. flynn was high ranking and clearly close to the president. he wrapped up both in the firing of comey and the possibility of obstruction of justice charges and russian interference. he has been in the past done shady dealings with the turkish government while in the transition. none of this looks

. >>> president trump is closing out 2017 at mar-a-lago.uary, of north korea's unexpected launching, trump was hosting japan's prime minister. dinner turns into a strategy possession. lets bring in dan. this week, he conducted an i impromptu interview. did it offer his most authentic self? >> i think that's fair to say. new york is the city that really made trump and mar-a-lago is the town and club that he's most comfortable. much like the president himself very conscious and the president have been coming here since 1985 when he bought the estate, he turned it into a club, 1985. he used it as a place, a sounding board, a place to come down here and talk to friends and people that he's known for decades now. >> he knows many of the people that have been going to mar-a-lago longer than he has. he's known some of these people so long and he's comfortable here. that's what you see when you see videos inside mar-a-lago and reports, it is really a place where he at his most comfortable but it is changing. he shaved system of the restrictions put

now we are waiting for president trump to slip out the back door of the white house heading for mar-a-lago, we are not 100% sure. we are also following new developments on the republican tax bill that is slated to become law today. a senior administration official is telling nbc news that it is likely the president will sign it today. now, over on the hill, the question now is, what's next? republicans got their tax plan. now they've got to figure out the deficit, entitlements and a budget. the late night bill passed keeping the government open for another month massachusetts jorjo jorjo, majority leader mitch mcconnell is speaking. >>> and what is being said from james comey and his conversations with the president. a lot is going on now, but we'll start at the white house with nbc's hallie jackson. a lot of questions you and the press corps are hoping to ask the president before he departs in the hour, but i want to start with the ftax bill. what do we know about a signing today? >> reporter: first as i was walking out here, i'm told it was very likely he'll be signing the tax bill befor

. >> shifting gears, mar-a-lago, it is warm, it is sunny, there's golf. president seems a bit more comfortable there. he just gave this wide-ranging rather long interview to of all publications the new york times, which he's been very critical of as you know in the past. if the president is able to run a little more wild, have more freedom, his staff didn't necessarily have a whole lot of input on the interview, didn't know about it ahead of time, is it a bad thing or a good thing to see the president sort of away from his handlers and his staff speaking a little more freely? >> it is certainly a double-edged sword from the white house's perspective. it is perilous for president trump to be in a situation where he could encounter a new york times reporter and do an interview for an entire half hour and no one be able to intervene to provide him with a list of talking points, brush him up on his facts before he sits down for the interview. on the other hand, it is good for any president to have time to blow off some steam, to interact with friends and fami

plus, the president hunkers down at mar-a-lago. why the luxury estate always seems to be in the middle of controversy. let's go "outfront." >> good evening. i'm pamela brown in for erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, not meeting the press. the president left washington today without holding a traditional end of the year press conference. something we are told trump wanted to do. it's a surprising decision given the president could tout his biggest accomplishment to date. the sweeping tax bill. but white house advisers overruled the president. two white house tells cnn the fear was over questions about russia, questions they clearly didn't want him to answer. but that didn't stop trump from giving his own version of reality after he signed the tax bill into law. here he is on obamacare and the end of the individual mandate. take a listen. >> essentially i think obamacare is over because of that and we're going to come up with something that's going to be very good. >> so obamacare is not over. 8.8 million people signed up for 2018 cov

so, plenty for the president to mull over while he is here in mar-a-lago. meantime we're working on finding out whether or not he's actually playing golf, fred. >> all right, we'll soon find out. maybe we'll get a shot or two if that is the case. boris, thank you so much. not a bad place to spend the holiday season. >>> let's talk about the president's big win and where he and his fellow republicans go from here with my panel joining me right now, david swardlick, assistant editor for "the washington post." also with me, mike allen, former staff director for the house intel committee, and he also served on the national security council under george w. bush. good to see both of you. and merry christmas. let me begin with you, david, the president is celebrating his first major legislative win, but the tax reform plan remains deeply unpopular. so, is this a win for him and congress? >> yeah, i think it's clearly at least a political win for trump and republicans in congress. after almost an entire year where they were not able to get a major comprehensive pie

. >> the president hosting the coast guard near mar-a-lago. a day earlier he acknowledged he has been soft on china on trade, and that impromptu interview with "new york times." his administration hoping beijing will pressure north korea to end its nuclear weapons program. new concerns china is helping the rogue regime and violating u.n. sanctions. u.s. treasury satellite images show what south korea suspects is a chinese ship, transferring oil to north korean ship in international waters. the chinese strongly denying the government was involved. hours after this accusation from the president. oil is going into north korea, so i'm not happy about it. the 30 minute interview shattered what had been relative quiet of the president's working holiday as he decried the russia investigation but not the man overseeing it, robert mueller. i think that he is going to be fair. that's different from questions of credibility some other republicans raised. the president's friend joined him for part of that interview. >> have you seen in the last week, coup

the lion's share of that time, of course, being mar-a-lago.ere on the ground. >>> if you're hitting the road this afternoon, you'll have company. aaa says this is going to be one of the busiest end-of-year travel seasons ever with more than 107 million americans getting out of town some sometime between now and new year's day. nbc's ron mott is live at chicago's o'hare international airport. one of the five busiest airports in this country. how is it looking so far, sir? >> reporter: re like to give credit where it's due so we need to give a shout out to the city of chicago and tsa. this airport has operated very smoothly today. i'm looking at the american airlines flight board. 130 flights posted, just nine delays and they're pretty minor delays. there was one cancellation to dulles -- or reagan national. that's been about it. we had a huge rush of people early this morning and then the mid-morning it dropped down. it was a little lull but picked up again. we're expecting the heaviest travel today at chicagoland airport's 225,000 passengers e

. >> the president is also getting away for the holidays, heading to mar-a-lago after signing the tax bill, but many issues remain unresolved. bill mattingly sorts through it for us on capitol hill. >> in the end, the poll or the scent of jet fumes overwhelmed the idea of having a fight when it came to a potential government shutdown. the senate following suit of the house and there will not be a government shutdown, at least for now. what is in the bill they passed? it's more than just funding through january 19th. it's funding through march the bill to extend, and the key fisa program will continue, and community health hospitals as well, and no doubt setting up major fights for january. daca, a program trump said he would wind down in march and that has been punted to january as well, and then the emergency bills, the house passed that with a big vote and the senate put that aside. that will have to be addressed in january as well. so republicans and democrats agreeing not to shutdown the government, and low bar but that's progress on some level, but it sets up major fights in janu

off to mar a lago for christmas. the president said it's his big resolution and he predicts there will be bipartisan dealing. plus, friend or foe. the president's united nations ambassador said she is making a list and checking the votes. it's official, the president signed the tax cut plan today and it also repeals the obamacare coverage mandate adding this 2018 election year challenge for the president's party. >> obamacare essentially it ultimately leads to the end of obamacare. i think obamacare is over because of that. we will come up with something that will be very good. many people thought it should have been overturned in the supreme court. didn't quite make it, but almost. now we are overturning the individual mandate. the most unpopular thing in obamacare. >> the big year end achievement. tax reform is done. signing into law without the hoopla for what republicans consider the crown jewel. the president had an explanation. >> i watched the news this morning and they were all saying will he keep his promise

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and also, a clarity deduction to make millions from mar-a-lago. >>> and tens of thousands are getting ready to protest. one of those organizers is on "the beat." it's a small finger...a worm! like, a dagger? a tiny sword? bread...breadstick? a matchstick! a lamppost! coin slot! no? uhhh... 10 seconds. a stick! a walking stick! eiffel tower, mount kilimanjaro! (ding) time! sorry, it's a tandem bicycle. what? what?! as long as sloths are slow, you can count on geico saving folks money. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. let out your inner child at the lexus december to remember sales event. lease the 2017 is turbo for $299 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. turn up your swagger game with one a day men's. ♪ a complete multivitamin with key nutrients plus b vitamins for heart health. your one a day is showing. >>> two major stories breaking on this holiday friday night. one coming from inside the d.o.j. and the apparent sneak attack by jeff sessions and there's a reason it might be leaking out before christmas. he is leake

though when he departed the white house yesterday for mar a lago, he did tell reporters that this would be a working vacation, that there were several areas of concern that he really wanted to drill down with his advisers on, including north korea and tensions rising in the middle east. the president is also expected to work on his state of the union address while he was down here in mar a lago. that is expected to be delivered to the nation by the end of january. the president has to weigh the legislative agenda and the next steps going into 2018. there are two major options for the president and the republicans right now when it comes to the legislative agenda. on one hand, you have a push for entitlement reform, for welfare reform, something that house speaker paul ryan has hinted should be the next step for republicans following their victory on tax reform. on the other hand, you had something the president talked about again to reporters before he left the white house yesterday. an infrastructure plan. something he admitted likely would have made the early days of his administratio

now he can celebrate at mar-a-lago resort in florida. and is bitcoin popularity coming to end. online currency drops dramatically in value. check investments and why d.c. residents may have a hard time getting through tsa more than normal. next. the big story tonight the republican tax bill is officially signed >> it's the biggest reform of all times. >> reporter: president trump signed 1.5 trill don't tax bill in oval office earlier today. you heard me with that amount. it was a point of contention with fiscal conservatives and trump said he did it now instead of in january because he wanted to show americans he kept his promise. despite low approval ratings before congress passed it. trump insisted critics will come around once they see benefits in the wallets. >> i said the bill would be on my desk before chris pass and you're holding me literally to it. we did a rush job today. it's not fancy but oval office great oval office. >> and democrats argue the bill benefits the wealthy and despite back and forth capitol hill mitch mc counsel celebrating in own way in his final new

the kinds of people that could spend $200,000 to join mar-a-lago and then pay the annual dues, living in florida, have some residency in florida, those are folks who are going to see -- i mean, that is the folks that are going to benefit wildly from this tax bill. >> absolutely. and it would be actually, i think, productive, except congress doesn't allow it, to do audits on all of those people who own 100-foot, 200-foot-long yachts that are right around the corner from mar-a-lago, because it's hard to imagine anybody using after-tax dollars on something like that. >> there's news today from at&t, one of the things that happened after this tax cut. it was a bizarre, bizarre spectacle, i have to say. really strange. a bunch of corporations got together to announce that they were increasing capital investment or giving their workers bonuses. at&t was one of them. and then also announces much more quietly that they're going to lay off thousands of people just in time for christmas, which cuts against a little bit that the idea that they're so flush, that now everyone's going to get a rais

secret service, be on the lookout for three ghosts visiting mar-a-lago tonight." in reacting here to the president's comments about andrew mccabe over the last 24 hours, and i guess she's intimating he's near the end. >> well, you know, maybe she's hoping that like ebenezer scrooge, the president has some sort of change of heart here as a result of being visited by these ghosts at mar-a-lago. i think that right now there's a lot of frustration with people who have worked in the justice department and at the fbi, regardless of partisan affiliation or what they personally believe. they're watching their institution under attack, and some of them are able to speak, and sally yates is one of them who's able to speak pretty freely because she's not in government right now. >> reaction to what was said on this sunday. the four of you probably watching some of the shows here. and jeff flake, senator flake, who you all know is not necessarily a huge fan of president trump. and here he is speaking on ethnonationalist protection of his own party. listen to this. >> what's t

president shaking some hands, taking some photos before he spends his holidays with his family at mar-a-lago. as i said, he did talk to reporters earlier signing into law tax cuts. president trump says he doesn't plan to try to sell the cuts to the american people. this despite the fact that majority of people cnn polled oppose those tax reductions, which will add $1.5 trillion to the deficit over ten years. >> i don't think we'll have to do much selling. i think the corporations that are giving billions and billions of dollars away to their workers, and many more are coming, i think that's really what's selling this maybe better than anybody could, including myself. but i think come february, when they open their checks and see, wow, what happened, i have a lot more money in here, i think that's really going to be something very special. >> let's go to forest sanchez live in palm beach there near mar-a-lago. so what did he do? he signed it. >> that's right. brooke. there was some speculation about how he would handle the signing of this historic tax bill just a few days after the president

this coming on the first full day of the president's holiday here in mar-a-lago. almost right away they are on the defensive but at a time when they are supposed to be basking in the dplglow of victory, sign it into law just yesterday. not a good look for a white house that has previously been accused of insensitive to minority groups, pam. >> boris sanchez, thanks for the latest. more breaking news developing in washington at this hour. fbi director andrew mccabe plans to retire and already president trump is on twitter attacking him. he writes, "how can fbi director andrew mccabe, the man in charge along with leaking james comey of the hillary clinton investigation including her 33,000 illegally deleted e-mails be given $700,000 for wife's campaign by clinton puppets during investigation?" he put out a second tweet. "andrew mccabe is racing to retire with full benefits, 90 days to go." shimon is joining me. normally it wouldn't be news if the deputy director of the fbi retires, but given the current climate, it apparently is. >> it's certainly for people who hav

after a quiet christmas at mar-a-lago, president trump promising to get back to work touting his make america great again agenda, after complaining he's not getting the credit he deserves after his accomplishments. trump marking his first christmas in office with attending a late-night church service on christmas eve. taking calls with young children on the santa-tracking hotline. and tell conferencing with the troops. >> i just wanted to wish everybody a very, very merry christmas, we say christmas again very loudly. >> it's my tremendous honor to finally wish america and the world a very merry christmas. >> despite the fact that president obama used the phrase repeatedly while in office. >> hello, everyone, and merry christmas. >> merry christmas, everybody. >> merry christmas, everybody. >> trump also spent the holiday weekend lashing out again at the country's top law enforcement agency, attacking andrew mccabe, and former fbi director, james comey and fbi lawyer, james baker. the president pouncing on reports that mccabe is planning on retiring in march, and going after him about

he'll be at his mar-a-lago retreat in palm beach, florida. he left the white house friday after signing that sweeping tax bill into law. $1.4 trillion, the biggest in three decades. for now, the president, of course, was touting the accomplishments he did not do with a year end news conference that presidents have done. the next ten days or so in florida, his aides say he'll have relaxing time. likely time on the golf course as well but also working on his state of the union address which he will deliver in january. all of this coming as vice president mike pence returned from afghanistan friday. he had a secret trip there, unannounced. he becomes the first by either president trump or the vice president to visit a war zone. afghanistan, america's longest war, the president went there in the wake of the surge. president trump sending more soldiers there. he's yet to visit. his aides say that's going to happen some time next year. 2018, the midterm elections just around the corner, that tax bill the president signed into law will be one of the

and this morning the president is celebrating his first christmas as the commander in chief in mar-a-lago and it's already been a busy holiday for him and his family. on christmas eve he wished troops a merry christmas and did a church service, but also launched a stream of attacks on twitter and touted his accomplishments. cnn's dan merica is with the president in florida. dan? >> that's right. the president has golfed, he has spent time at his resort, and done things that he usually does at the white house, tweeted about the fbi. he's tweeted four times about the fbi, particularly about deputy director andrew mccabe, tweeting about his e-mail controversy and the fact mccabe's wife ran for office in virginia as a democrat and took money from that state's democratic governor. mccabe intends to retire in the next few months, but the fact the president has gone after him the past two days has led some democratic lawmakers is thinking the president is trying to force him out early. i want to read what a congressman from california has said. "potus has tweeted quite a bit about andrew mccabe,

the piece, is the mar-a-lago tax deal failed from tax review? big deal to turn mar-a-lago into a private club binged on inactive charity crafted to skirt irs scrutiny and deliver for trump a seven year tax break. the sure trump could get $5.7 million deduction, america's future president and lawyers left out those details from the written agreements with town officials. the palm beach post rights -- the deal, which took shape in public meetings over several months in 1993, provides the best look at trump's largest form of charity: an obscure and controversial land use reduction known as a preservation easement. read more at the palm beach post website. in kentucky on our democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, joanne. caller: i just wanted to say that [indiscernible] you are breaking up. sorry about that. just not clear enough. we will go on to massachusetts, john on our democrats line. caller: hi. i was 17 when the massacre happened. i am now 61. everything that has happened the last few days shows there will be some

another 40 have been spent at his mar-a-lago resort in florida. with his air travel to the palm beach club costing the government around $6 million this year alone. the president is expected to spend the next seven days at that very florida resort. >>> the identity of the man who left manure at the home of treasury secretary steve mnuchin sparking a bomb scare may have been revealed. l.a. psychologist robby strong gave aol.com information that he would indicate he was the likely culprit behind a gift wrapped box of horseman newer outside of mnuchin's l.a. home. strong al.com the thing i live by is the rule of transparence circumstances and i was exercising my first amendment rights. strong continued, if corporations are free speech then so is horse expletive. the secret service says it has interviewed someone claiming responsibility. however, it declined to interview the person in question. >>> moscow russian officials have movered to bard opposition leader alexei navalny from running for president against vladimir putin because of what thaw say w

it's revealing words the president allegedly made upon arriving at mar-a-lago that has him in hot water after he told friends, "you all just got a lot richer," hours after signing the tax overhaul bill, according to cbs news. kelly o'donnell with more on the president's christmas eve weekend, dubbed as wazerbaijs t white house. >> reporter: a holiday greeting by video conference. >> we say christmas again proudly. >> reporter: the president connected with service members from each branch around the world. >> we're grateful for each of you who spend this christmas away from your families and defend all of our families. >> reporter: but not all tidings were joyful. the president again delivered coal to the media on twitter. "the fake news refuses to talk about how big and how strong our base is." a political base often energized by the president's views on immigration. earlier he said the u.s. should stop the policy where naturalized citizens ask bring family members to the u.s. >> we're talling for congress to end chain migration. >> reporter: saturday night the trump administration link

still, it's revealing words the president made while arriving at mar-a-lago that have him in hot water after he reportedly told friends, quote, you all just got a lot richer just hours after signing the tax overhaul bill according to cbs news. nbc's kelly o'donnell has more on the president's christmas eve weekend which has been dubbed as the winter white house. >> we appreciate it. have a great christmas. >> reporter: a holiday greeting by video conference. >> we say christmas again very proudly. >> reporter: the president connected with service members from each branch around the world. >> we are grateful for each of you who spend this christmas away from your families and defend all of our families. >> reporter: but not all tidings were joyful. the president again delivered cold to the media on twitter. the fake news refuses to talk about how big and how strong our base is. a political base often energized by the president's views on immigration. earlier this month, he said the u.s. should stop the policy where naturalized citizens can bring family members to the u.s. >> we are call

president trump leaving for florida, mar-a-lago.delayed the trip for an hour because he decided that rather than having a formal media celebration sending his tax legislation the gop-backed legislation come into law, he would do it today. he said he called the after watching networks this morning and decided he would do it today because they had been saying come will be do it by christmas, will he do it by christmas, and so he decided to do it. we saw the president signing the legislation a little while ago, now he is heading to mar-a-lago comorbid said to reporters he will be working throughout the holiday. earlier he signed a stopgap spending bill into law, which included $4 billion in defense spending, missile defense spending. itsigned it, as he was doing from a letter to paul ryan and mitch mcconnell particularly on the missile defense funding. once again come with of the bill signed into law, the president is leaving. he is at saint andrew leaving for mar-a-lago, florida. as we watch pictures of the president board let's bring

president trump on his way to the mar-a-lago resort, but not before he signed the tax bill into law. >> bottom line is this is the biggest tax cuts and reform in the history of our country. this is bigger, actually, than president reagan's many years ago. i'm very honored by it. >> kristen welker is at the white house, garrett haake on capitol hill. katy tur and peter alexander both with me. kristen, do we have you? >> reporter: you do indeed have me, chris. >> let's start with -- i don't know where to start, there's so much to unpack. let's start with he said as a favor to you, to me, to the networks, he decided to sign this bill today. >> reporter: right. look, he started off by saying, we want to give the middle class a christmas present, a big tax cut for christmas. so after the bill was passed, the question became, when was he actually going to sign it into law and make that christmas present official? the initial thinking here was he wanted to have a big signing ceremony in january. of course, that would mean that christmas present wouldn't be official heading into the holidays

he very well may sign it in mar-a-lago surrounded by his opulents. point about chip, what a contrast that would be to be in this sort of room, not a taxpayer room but a gilde dodd-frank ro d room. >> it's really true. i try to read it every christmas. it's about a guy coming home, little tiny tim on the frozen sidewalk of london. basically, get out of the way, kid. i want to go home and have my soup. basically he would love to squeeze a little more money out -- aren't there prisons and more houses. let's put the people there, the poor people. it's horrible stuff. >> the failure to reauthorize is another example of why congress cannot just do the basic thing. you have a program that is widespread, it affects 9 million children in low income families. orrin hatch and ted kennedy created it. >> so they didn't vote? >> they didn't vote. what happened was in the house, house republicans had a chip plan except it was paid for through partisan measures which didn't get the support of democrats in the chamber. why did pass it was dead on arrival in the senat

going gun at mar-a-lago for a restful week, although i'm sure he will be working at the same time. arriving in palm beach, florida. you look sunny and warm. maria, i want to put up a chart if we can that shows was going on in the national assembly. is a complicated story. we say the independence people won, but there are two parties to make up 70% of the seats. they did not take the most seats of any parties. it he put them together, you get a majority. maria: that's right. the actual winner of the election, you break down the details, it was a pro spain party. incredibly vocal about staying with spain. which is had an interview with one of their spokespeople today. they were saying he has to face the music and get back to spain and take responsibility for what he did. it is by no means clear-cut and the idea that independents will take place, not so quick because the pro-independence party lost seats. not --ple of catalog did catalan did not like what they saw. situationplicated between madrid and barcelona. it was a disaster and it highlights how toxic the relationship between th

we appreciate it. >>> ahead for us, the president is headed to mar-a-lago for christmas. he sign the tax bill? it's expected in the next hour or two. will he speak to reporters on his way out the door? we'll have it all ahead. excuse me, are you aware of what's happening right now? we're facing 20 billion security events every day. ddos campaigns, ransomware, malware attacks... actually, we just handled all the priority threats. you did that? we did that. really. we analyzed millions of articles and reports. we can identify threats 50% faster. you can do that? we can do that. then do that. can we do that? we can do that. >>> top of the hour. good morning, everyone. i'm poppy harlow in new york. for president

this week is mar-a-lago. next week is camp david. who is expected to join trump at the presidential retreat and what they hope to accomplish. back in a moment. get awesomely fast wifi that gives you coverage here, here and here. and it even let's you take a timeout. nooooooo! yes! amazing speed, coverage and control. all with an xfi gateway. >>> with one-year-old after a massive fire tore through a building last night. four more people critically injured. people suffered injuries. blaze is the worst fire tragedy in the city in a quarter century. cause is under investigation. >>> doug jones is officially the winner of senate race in alabama t. certified yesterday afternoon despite last minute lawsuit filed by roy moore claiming systematic election fraud. denied the request. still refuses to concede. saying in a statement election fraud experts across the country agreed this was a fraudulent election. >>> president trump given sudden and wide ranging interview with the "new york times" in which he discusses views of special counsel rob

on or about the next day, flynn contacts a senior transition official at mar-a-lago. we now know who she is. then he calls sergey kislyak, and according to the charging document, lies about it to the fbi. the russians you'll recall do not retaliate for the sanctions, which raised questions at the time. the 30th, president-elect trump tweets -- kellyanne conway was at mar-a-lago, and her line, nothing was going on. >> we've been talking about this for a while. i think that all we heard all through the election was russia, russia, russia. whenever it came to anything donald trump said or did, and now since the election, it's just this fever pitch of accusations and insinuations. and we know why hillary clinton lost. i think the clues are obvious, they were obvious to us all along. they're obvious to everyone now. and i don't believe vladamir putin deterred her from competing in pennsylvania, wisconsin, and michigan. states that donald trump carried for the first time as a republican in decades. >> so again, she said that on or around the very day we now know flynn was t

washington post says the "new york time's" interview is a reminder that president trump's time at mar-a-lago is a respite for him and a headache for his staff. as word trickled back to the white house, advisers worked to reach the president with trump's personal aide interrupting to hand him a cell phone with white house communications director hope hicks on that line. she checked in on the interview from afar. nbc news' kelly o'donnell is following the president in palm beach, florida. what more did the president discuss in that interview? >> reporter: well, good morning, philip. this is a wide ranging interview from the president who has long acted as his own top press communications director. we saw that in his business life and it carried into his political life. you are right, it does cause a lot of heartburn for senior white house aides that were not aware the president agreed to what you can only call an impromptu interview, proximity to a reporter at the trump international golf club, haed a meal. after the meal, the president invited that conversation and a loued it to be recorded a

in a federal building, and at the time is the flynn was having those buildings, mr trump was at mar—a—lago from experience which suggests that where the president elect or the vice president elect might be. just because they are not physically in the office building i am making reference to does not mean it is nefarious, that he was at mar—a—lago. i will agree with you on this. seth's comment about the terms, as a lawyer i look at this and say the special counsel is clearly going higher, because the crimes he was alleged to have committed would have put him injail for 20 plus years. there is clearly someone else that general flynn will be co—operating with, with the special counsel, that could take us even further inside the gates of the white house. and as to who that person is or who the persons might be, i think that is what the next parlourgame here in washington is, who is next? we have run out of time but thank you forjoining us. the case of pornography found on a minister's office computer raises serious questions. is the deputy pm lying? or is the story of a police officer who's ov

mcfarland along with other transition officials at mar-a-lago, they discussed what to say to kislyak about the new sanctions being posed on russia by the frb president obama frb the obama administration. flynn immediately called kislyak asking russia not to overreact to those sanctions. shortly after that call, flynn briefed mcfarland that he did, indeed, discussions sanctions with the ambassador. according to two people familiar with the matter. but in january then-vice president-elect mike pence told the nation flynn assured him he did not talk about sanctions with kislyak. >> they did not discuss anything having to do with the united states' decision to expel diplomats or impose a censure against russia. >> reporter: then on december 31st, three days after their conversation about sanctions, kislyak confirmed to flynn that russia had chosen not to retaliate in response to flynn's request. also today, court documents revealed another interaction flynn had with kislyak. calling him at the direction of a, quote, very senior member of the transition about a coming u.n. security counci