we want to move on and bring in matthew dowd. tthew, good morning to you. >> good morning, paula. >> so after the president's win on the tax bill he's expected to focus on infrastructure next which he says will fulfill another campaign promise rolling out a plan late next month saying this will be, quote, matt, the easiest of all. in reality what kind of obstacles could he face? smart politically and for the country's sake if he did that, 80% of the country wants something done on infrastructure. the problem he has is that he's entering the midterm zone of the elections as david talked about and it's going to be very difficult to get democrats on board because they have no incentive, 80, 85% of their base wants them to fight donald trump on everything and republicans because they took a trillion dollars and increased the federal deficit to give tax cuts there is no money left over so it could be great politically, problems in both parties. >> let me rank you about a tweet from the president within the past 4 hours. it reads in par

matthew dowd reporting for us from austin, texas. thank you so much for being with us. and ron is here with the other headlines of the day. good morning, ron. >> right. good morning to you, adrienne and dan, diane. good morning, everyone. we're going to begin with breaking news from north carolina where police have made an arrest in connection with that missing toddler who was last seen sunday night. the fbi announcing that 32-year-old earl kimrey, the boyfriend of the girl's mother who was the last person to see the 3-year-old mariah woods before she disappeared, he's in custody. police say the evidence gathered leads them to believe that young mariah is dead. they are still searching for her body. >>> and in texas, a federal court has issued an arrest warrant for jose ines garcia zarate. a mexican immigrant found not guilty on thursday in the shooting death of a woman in san francisco two years ago, zarate, a felon was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm. the warrant says zarate violated his supervised release by illegally re-entering the u.s. in texas by ca

. >>> quite a year in washington let's bring in matthew dowd for a year-end review of the presidencying down what he promised and if he's delivered. good morning to you. let's start with the president's tax cut plan a clear victory for the president, also getting rid of the obamacare mandate which penalized people for not getting health insurance but a battle he hasn't won to fully obamacare. >> i legislative victory on the tax cut said and you're right to say on the obamacare side it's not a clear victory but there is a huge difference between a legislative and political victory so put a lot of yards on the field and has a lot of first downs but for political purposes he hasn't accomplished that much. >> his signature issue on the campaign trail was the promise a wall and have mexico pay for it. that's still a promise he hasn't fully delivered on. >> i think it'll be one very difficult to deliver on. all the compromises he has to do with congress related to the immigration issues and this one is tied up in it. one, with those compromises and, two, the fact that the budget now, he's

matthew dowd for us, thanks so much. >> merry christmas. >>> now to that urgent search for a possiblel shooter suspected in at least ten drive-by shootings in california in the last month. police say it's a top priority to find whoever is responsible and matt gutman is in california with the very latest on gunman issing itting people when traffic is at its heaviest. >> reporter: that's right, amy. police say this mystery shooter has been stalking passing vehicles during the morning and evening commutes. now, just imagine being in a car like this when it is slammed by gunfire. right now police say that it's just pure luck that nobody has been killed yet. >> someone just shot my boss. >> somebody shot your boss? >> reporter: this morning authorities are desperately searching for a driver they say is terrorizing rural california. ran domly firing guns at passing vehicles. >> we are working very hard to find you. we will hold you responsible. >> reporter: ten cars have been hit in the past month alone around the fresno area. this map shows the density of the attacks, all occurring within

and a lot to discuss from that interview, so let's bring in abc news political analyst matthew dowd. w, good morning to you. the president's allies as you know have been railing against mueller, the special counsel, for weeks. now trump says, however, that he expects to be treated fairly by mueller, so how do you reconcile that? >> well, we could probably spend the full two hours of "good morning america" today going through the conflicting statements of donald trump and trying to reconcile them. you can't reconcile it, those two things. i mean, i think it's good that the president said that we cant. i'm sure democrats like that he said this but i think donald trump defines that he trusts bob mueller in the way that he says as long as he finds me innocent or my family innocent. if bob mueller starts getting close to jared kushner or donald junior or the president, i think donald trump's tune will vastly change. >> another news-making comment from this interview, the president conducted the interview with "the times" just hours after sending out a tweet in which he said the chinese had

let's bring in matthew dowd for more on this right now.ou saw in tom's piece nationalizing strategy for the republicans right here making it about president trump, roy moore disappearing. is it going to work? >> well, the democrats did the want to try to make it as local as possible. the republicans want to to make it national. the only strategy at this point in time for roy moore to win. he's slightly favored, george, in this race. but i think it's still a chance that the democrat can win in a deeply red state like alabama. but it's the only strategy he has which is stay out of the limelight and don't make any more errors. >> you've seen president trump coming out full-throated support and some of the senators softening their opposition to him but the big question if he wins, what do they do? does he become subject of an ethics investigation or creating a problem for republicans even with a victory? >> well, george, i think this is a no-win situation for the republicans. if they lose a race in alabama it's a huge problem because obviously

let's break down the political fallout with matthew dowd, meghan mccain, let me begin with you.ht now the bill is pretty unpopular, but republicans calculated they just could not afford to go home without a big win this year. >> yeah, this is a -- a big legislative win, the most significant one for the trump administration thus far, and this is something to take home to your constituents. i came on the show saying i think it will be a hard pass. i don't see how we can do this especially after the failure of the obamacare repeal and replacement. but we do have something to run on. i think democrats will turn this into an impeachment election and now going home we can say, look, we ended up passing something. >> democrats, though, matt dowd, said they want to run on the tax bill as well saying it's going to be a giveaway to the wealthy. many in the middle class will get a tax increase. >> well, yeah, when you look at this tax bill, 70% of the benefits of this tax bill go to the very wealthy, the top 1% or 2% of the country like an alternative version of dickens' "a christmas carol

moments ago on "good morning america" political analyst matthew dowd weighed in. >> i think donald trump defines that he trusts bob mueller in the way he says as long as he finds me innocent or my family innocent. if bob mueller gets close to jared kushner or donald junior or the president, i think donald trump's tune will vastly change. >> the president said it makes the country look bad and puts the country in a very bad position. they are repealing proposed rules that would have set standards for hydraulic fracturing or fracking on federal land. new rules were set to go into effect today. it would have required companies to disclose the chemicals used in fracking, the process of drilling deep into the earth and using high-pressure the oil and gas industries applaud the repeal this can put people and wildlife at risk, they say. >>> time now 5:37 a.m. we are tracking some cool spots. our coldest spots in the 30s our coldest spots in the 30s this hour. the 12-hour planner will get you into the north bay. we're in the 30s early on. that sun gets up here in about 7:23 in the morning. mainl

let's bring in our howerhouse abc news political analyst matthew dowd.r yo chief susan page. fivethirtyeight mitt call writer perry bacon junior. and washington post writer mary jordan. matt, is it going to be a happy new year for the president? the border wall was one of his biggest campaign promises. as we heard. can he get bipartisan support? you heard chuck schumer talking tough. >> i'm going to go with what the admiral said. he's been very disruptive and unpredictable. sthat likely to be the case in 2018. i have a hard time predicting. here's a couple of problems. the democrats, there's no incentive for them to make a deal. they're in a midterm e lengs deal. the base can't stand donald trump. they want to fight him at every point in the way. the other problem is the republicans. >> but then there's no deal on the dreamers. >> i don't give up the wallace. the republicans have busted the budget with the tax bill. and they would have to compromise on daca. very much against what their base wants. i think it's hard to cut the deal. >> susan, do you agre

let's bring in political consultant matthew dowd. matt, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> let's start here with general flynn. what are the political risks for donald trump if he >> well, not to use -- not to overuse a monopoly analogy but he's taking a chance by presenting a get out of jail free card in the midst of this and i think it's either, one, bob mueller is not a dumb guy and my guess is bob mueller's gotten most of the information he needs from michael flynn if he's going to move any further on in that fear of a pardon of keeping the information, the fear of him getting a pardon so he won't cooperate i think is gone. i think it puts donald trump in an interesting position because you're basically holding out the promise of a guy that could be a witness against you that you might pardon them, so it is a question that somebody could ask, is there an obstruction of justice claim involved in just this promise of that possibly happening. >> a conflict of interest. let's go back to the tax bill. looks like this is going to

we bring in matthew dowd. our senior congressional correspondent, mary bruce.reau chief for the associated press. sara fagen, now a cnbc contributor. and patrick gaspar. the open society foundation. matt. a chart. polling amples for major leg slags over the last generation. you look back. keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling down. you get to the gop tax bill. 3% right new. bottomed out only by the gop health care bill. that would suggest democratic hope. president trump's approval rating ticking up to republicans coming home excited. by the idea of tax cuts. a year from now, plus or minus for the gop? >> minus. big minus. you look at the polling of this. i think what's happened is the american public has figured out this tax bill is not tax simplification. it's not fund mentally tax reform. it's not fund mentally helping the middle class or working class of the country. when quhyou look at this as a dynamic, politically, you have a very unpopular president. at the lowest any president has been at this point in his term, pushing a very unpopular bill throu

my apologies to the millennials and my thanks to matthew dowd. >>> a lot of other news and for that asalways we kick it over to ron claiborne. good morning, sir. >> good morning to rine, good m. >> good morning, everyone. we begin in los angeles where a female police officer was shot in what's being called an ambush-style attack near the downtown area. that officer hospitalized this morning with nonlife-threatening injuries. police say they have one suspect in custody and a gun was found at the scene. they're searching for other possible suspects. >>> here in new york city new details emerging about that deadly apartment fire in the bronx that killed 12 people including children. thursday night officials now say that the fire which was started by a 3 1/2-year-old boy playing with the burners on the stove spread so quickly throughout the apartment building in part because the boy's mother left the apartment door open when she fled to safety along with her children. >>> in boston investigators ared two trolleys to collide, one rear ending the other injuring 16 passengers friday afternoon

. >> matthew dowd we appreciate your analysis. >> thank you very much. we want to move to the unprecedented security for the new years eve ball drop. nypd on high alert. gio benitez has the latest for us. >> reporter: good morning to you. on new years eve this place will be packed with people and police. they learned so much from this year's attacks. that's why this year they are just pulling out all the stops here. eve celebrations. in new york expect the most security ever with new garage closures, streets blocked off, concrete barricades, armed and plain clothes officers plus additional check points before entering times square. banned backpacks, large bags and umbrellas. the strict rules come after two terrorist attacks in new york city just in the past two months. >> people should ekt pekt an increase in security this year because of the ongoing threat we've seen from isis over the past few years they sought to encourage followers to carry out low level attacks whenever they can particularly target people where they gather in crowds. >> reporter: a

let's bring in our chief political analyst, matthew dowd. good morning.et's talk about this lewandowski case. the president appears to be close to the accuser and the accused here. how does he handle this especially because he has his own accusers? >> reporter: well >> well, this is a difficult spot for the president to be in. this is like "pirates of the caribbean" where all these characters are surrounding him, and they have problems. we know what happened with paul manafort and the candidate he endorsed in alabama. a series of folks, in surrounding this world, and in the end, the president is barbosa barbosa, and he has problems as big as corey lewandowski. it's a difficulty that the white house is in. >> i knew some cultural references would be thrown in this morning. let's talk about the preside specifically, and his claim that he repeated that he has signed more legislation than any other president. so it is absolutely true that trump has some big wins under his belt including the tax bill that just went through, but it's not true. it's verifiably f

. >>> matthew dowd, our chief white house correspondent jonathan karl and senior congressional correspondentary bruce. so many ramifications. your biggest? >> i have to say what the president said sounds like the guy that cheats off another guy on a test and gets it wrong and blames the guy for the wrong answer on the test. 2018, new jersey, virginia, canary in a coal mine. a bunch of sick miners. but for the elections in 2018 it soaps the door for the democrats. it's a realistic opportunity. >> jon, the ramifications for president trump, he won the state of alabama by 28 points last time around. last night the state was divided over whether or not they favored him. >> reporter: george, this is a spectacular defeat for the president, and when you think about it, alabama is one of the most republican, deepest red states in the entire country. the president is now 0-2 in this senate race. he supported the losing candidate in the primary. now the losing candidate in judge moore in the general election. and the key worry here at the white house is that this will be a harbinger for the midterm el

more from jon karl and matthew dowd. jon, let's begin with the tax bill.little room to maneuver right now. a lot of final details set and this objection from senator marco rubio at the last minute complicates things. >> reporter: it sure does. the white house is confident they will get the votes but, george, this is the world they are living in now, especially now that the democrats won in alabama and doug jones getting sworn in in january. basically you have a situation where every republican senator can be king, anybody, anybody can stand up and object and they have to meet their concerns to get it passed unless there is democratic support so looks like rubio, if they are going to pass this, rubio ultimately will get his way. >> they'll have to give him a lot and let's talk about more broadly here, the republican leadership does seem convinced they have to get it done. what could be puzzling is this bill is tremendously unpopular right now. >> yeah, they are making an assumption that a legislative victory will equal a political victory. all you have to d

. >> matthew dowd, we appreciate your analysis. thank you for joining us on a wednesday morning. paula, over to you. >>> thank you very much. we want to move to the unprecedented security for the new year's eve ball drop. nypd on high alert after recent deadly terrorist attacks including the mass shooting in las vegas. abc's gio benitez has the very latest for us this morning. good morning to you, gio. >> reporter: hey, paula. good morning. plan you know it. on new year's eve, this is going to be people and packed with police, you know, they learned so much from this year's attacks, and that's why they are pulling out all the stops. the countdown on for new year's eve celebrations. security officials are on high alert. in new york -- >> three, two, one. >> reporter: -- expect the most security ever with new garage closures, streets blocked off, concrete barricades, armed and plainclothes officers amongst the crowd plus several additional checkpoints before entering times square. banned from this year's ball drop are backpacks, large bags and umbrellas. the strict rules and height

let's bring in matthew dowd. matt, good morning to you. so, the president says it's back to work now. so, what are the big ticket items on the agenda as he heads back to work, and how much can he really get done now that the republicans are down to one vote after doug jones beat roy moore in alabama? >> you mean we're not going to talk about onesies and pink bunny pajamas you have. >> thank you for that, matt. i appreciate it. unexpected. >> no, the president has -- i mean, 20181 going is going to extremely consequential. not only because there are serious issues to deal with immigration, trade, the budget, all big, huge issues that have to be dealt with but it's going to be in the midst of a midterm election and that always has impact on the ability to get anything done and the big thing the president has to face is that there is a democratic elected official who has no incentive to cooperate with him understanding it's a midterm election. >> infrastructure, that's something a lot say there is the potential for bipartisan support there. >