melanie hastings is here with more. republicans are on the brink of passing a nearly one-and-a -half trillion dollar tax overhaul. on friday, two senators who said they'd vote against the bill pledged their support: bob corker, and marco rubio. that means republicans should have the votes they need. this would be this legislative accomplishment for president trump and g-o-p leaders. treasury secretary steve mnuchin says by lowering business taxes, wages will rise, and jobs will be created. president trump says this will be one of the best christmas presents middle-income americans have ever received. arianna... senator john mccain is back home in arizona, and does not plan to vote on the final tax bill. but his absence is not expected to derail the measure. mccain was admitted to walter reed hospital on wednesday, because of side effects from his cancer treatments. he was treated for a viral infection. he was released less than 24 hours ago, and is said to be improving. he'll spend christmas with his family. he plans to

melanie hastings is at a live desk to explain why. e: students have protested over the last few weeks, saying that betsy devos shouldn't be invited to speak because she is hostile to public education and indifferent to civil rights. >> you should be so proud of yourself. of course, they are no stranger to protest like this one. in february of last year protesters try to stop you from entering jefferson middle school in dce -- in d.c. -- spokesmansport says that security plans are in place for today's speech. whom adrianna: there is a rally outside the center for disease control office because of a washington post article that said that the trump administration recently banned seven words and fruit -- seven words and phrases including fetus, evidence-based, and science-based. at 8:20 the protesters went to shout those in a show of support for scientists. are we alone in this big universe? apparently the pentagon will pay millions to figure out if the truth is out there. >> look at that thing. that mysterious black object that was record

good morning washington, i'm melanie hastings.s. the toll lanes are in effect from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. eastbound and from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. westbound monday through friday. drivers are getting sticker shock this morning, at one time this tolls sword $22 one way. only impacting drivers with passengers. you will need an e-zpass or e-zpass flux in your car wax right now as you travel on interstate 66, before you get to the beltway and the express lanes, the accident activity continues to tie us up on the right side. this is virginia 123 where we had the earlier tractor-trailer crash. delays are all way back to manassas with this cleanup. on traffic claim cameras we are looking at the capital beltway from springfield to annandale passing braddock road on the interlude. we are open even though we had the earlier collision. now i look at your monday forecast >> today will be the nicest and the warmest day out of the work week, probably the warmest we will see in quite some time, temperatures today like sunday in the mid- 50s thr