the president and the rnc on board with roy moore but his would-be senate colleagues not so much. one week to election day. >> thankly the idea that our president is above the law is nix ownian. >> even his own lawyers aren't on the same page. we have the latest on the investigation. >> you're reopening wounds on them too.

enough's enough. stop playing around. >> billy bush venting in his first public interview since the access hollywood tape went public. what he says about the president and this waive of sexual misconduct claim. >> it is tuesday, december 5. a new fracture in the republican party over senate candidate roy moore. on monday president trump threw his full support behind him. first in this tweet. democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive tax cuts is why we need republican roy moore to win in alabama. >> then, in a phone call to the candidate, the campaign says the president called moore a fighter. finished up by saying "go get

'em, roy." >> last night they joined the president in backing moore after walking away last month. officials says the rnc will transfer money to the alabama republican party. >> moore's potential senate colleagues are refusing to budge. the head of the national republican senatorial committee sticking to last month's -- wins the senate should vote to expel him because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements. many other republican senators not thrilled with the idea of working side by side with moore. >> i still think it's unfortunate. we're going to have a tough enough time in the coming years and being the party of roy hoor moore is not going to help. >> i've made my position clear on mr. moore but it's not up to me or the president.

it's up to the people of alabama. >> also digging in h is a committed moore opponent, mitt romney. he tweeted it would be a stain on the gop and on the nation. other victims are courageous victims. no majority is worth using our integrity and honor. >> mitt romney has lost his courage or doesn't care about truth anymore. america's reawakening was led by donald trump not you, mitt. >> the washington post has -- within the polls margin of er r error. >> the president said to attend the opening. mississippi civil rights museum. >> that border alabama without every actually being in the state before the election. >> a series of new twists in president trump's constantly

shifting legal strategy. he opened with a tweet saying he knew michael flynn lied to the fbi before he fired him. an assertion that raises questions about obstruction of justice. trump's personal lawyer john doud claimed he drafted that tweet then offered another defense that the president cannot obstruct justice because as chief law enforcement officer he has every right to express his view of any case. >> that claim drew howls of protests from critics and by late monday a white house lawyer, ty cobb was down playing it telling the washington the theory is not the president's official legal strategy. he said quote it's interesting as a technical, but they intend to present a fact-based defense. as for whether the president can in fact obstruct justice, it is worth noting that articles of impeachment against both richard nixon and bill clinton did

include obstruction charges. >> we've also learned another white house lawyer told president trump in january he believed flynn had misled the fbi as well as vice president pence. that raises new questions about what the president knew when he urged thn fbi director jim comey to drop the investigation against flynn. >> the president says never happened. >> fbi director chris ray responding to the president's claim that the bureau's reputation is in tatters. ray, tending an agency-wide e-mail that reads base of the important of our mission are he we are entrusted with great power. we should welcome people asking tough questions asking how we use that power. >> ray finished off with keep calm and tackle hard. ray did not mention president trump by name. the president's criticism of the fbi intensified after it was

revealed one of the top experts had been removed from the special counsel's investigation over a potential anti-trump bias. >> cnn has learned that expert, peter strzok is the person who changed a key phrase. he changed it from grossly negligent -- >> fired him last year. overnight he told stephen colbert he felt like he got hit in the gut when he first got hit with that infamous tape. and that the president delivered a second gut punch by questioning that tape's authenticity. >> he, last week for some reason came out with that's not my voice on the tape. i was there. you were there. what that does, though is multi it -- i told you about my own

personal problem with it. but then you've got 20 women at the time -- i don't know what the exact number is--but used their names. powerful people being held accountable and sometimes there's anonymous sources. all of these women came out with their name 20 women don't get together and say let's take down a powerful guy. you're reopening wounds on them too. enough's enough. stop playing around. are. >> one interesting note from the bully bush interview. he says in he knew someone was describing a strategy for sexual assault, he would have called the fbi and not just reported to his executive producer. suggesting he did tell at least one higher up at nbc about the president's comments. >> all right. michigan congressman john

conyers will make an announcement on the radio this morning. the new york reports conyers plans to announce he will not seek reelection. the times sites ian times. >> the longest serving member of the house, he already gave up his position as ranking democrat on the judiciary committee. house speaker paul ryan and nancy pelosi said he should resign but the younger conyers said he expects him to finish the term. a fast moving fire in california charring thousands of acres. one person dead. tell you all about it next.

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in southern california, this morning, a huge deadly wildfire rages out of control. this is the scene just north of

santa paula. mandatory evacuations are in place. one person has been killed in a car accident related to the fire. complicating evacuations are power outages. in all more than 260,000 people are without electricity. >> they can't get a break this year. how are weather conditions affecting it? >> the national weather service calling this potential setup here for a santa ana event to be the most impressive of the season here. we know the winds will be howling across this region. the risk is going to be in place at least the next couple of days and temperature trend doesn't help. all of this with powerful winds.

the fire fighting efforts going to be on full alert across that region. look at what's happened at cross portions of the midwest and east coast. 15 record high temps either tied or broken. the much of them around the portion of the central region. arctic air filtering over the great lakes. tems to 30's in chicago. new york city enjoy the 58 degree afternoon. my goodness i don't think we'll be any where near that for the remainder of 2017. >> thanks. a 4.2 magnitude earthquake striking in okay la moment ma last night. epicenter located 60 miles or so from oklahoma city. house of cards lives for one

fine fall season. netflixs announcing it will return for an eight-episode season six with robin wright as the lead actor. former star kevin spacey cut out completely. the fate has been unclear since netflix cut ties with kevin spacey last month. production expected to resume early next year. i'm telling you, she can carry it. >> she's pan tas tick. >> she can do it. >> i haven't catch the it in a couple years. liangelo ball one of the three basketball players arrested in china, leaving the school. the coach respecting the decision and wishing him the best in the future. ball a freshman and two teammates were arrested on suspicion of stealing sunglasses from a store near the team hotel. president trump made a personal

appeal to the chinese president on there bebehalf. they are houston strong. "sports illustrated" names texans stars of the astros sports persons for 2017. the two being honored for a on the field performance and civic performance. watt has raised more than $37 -- today, in new york. >> good choice. >> outstanding. >> dressing down from the chief of abc news after a mistake during the michael flynn coverage.

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clinton and obama. conservative lawmakers saying the push for more mining and drilling is a response to federal overreach. voi . republican tax bill headed. even that step was even in jeopardy as key republicans threatened to vote against. some voice displeasure for the plan to have a two week to fund beyond friday's deadline. >> members wanted to keep funding going until the end of december so as not to vote right before the holidays. lawmakers hope to send it to president trump's desk before christmas. senator expected to vote conference later this week. the house and senate bill promise big corporate tax cuts

but companies are pushing to repeal one left. senate decided to keep the amt, a move that saved them $40 billion. but that move shocked ce oh's and business groups. it's a 20% that kicks in if the company's tax bill is too low. it's rarely used because there are all these other loopholes. with a lower corporate rate more companies could end up paying it and lose tax breaks in the process. the biggest concern a tax credit for research and development really popular with silicon valley. the bigger beneficials are apple, intel, apple alone saved there is 678 billion last year. so tech along with other industries want lawmakers to kill the corporate amt. they claim is stifles inis vestment.

without it, congress needs to make up the lost revenue possibly by scaling back the size of the corporate tax cut, a suggestion president trump may not be against. he said it 0 could end up at 22% instead of 20 prsz. the president of abc news lashing out at the staff. on friday, ros reported flynn was prepared to tef. then candidate -- hours later on world news tonight he changed it. >> abc news president ordering a full review of the error ripping into his staff during the monday morning editorial call. he told cnn i don't think ever in my clear have i ever felt more rage and frustration. i don't know how many times we've talked about this. the need to get it right. how we have to be right and not

first. >> also announced ross will no longer cover stories related to the president. expressing frustration it took more than 7 hours to clarify the story. he says abc will pay a price for that for a long time. >> the president is now on board with roy moore. the republican senators aren't warming to the idea. the gop is split one week before a crucial vote in alabama. >> and competing theories from president trump's own lawyers on the russian probe. are they relying on facts or legal strategy to clear his name? [vo] quickbooks introduces jeanette and her new mobile wedding business. at first, getting paid was tough... until she got quickbooks. now she sends invoices, sees when they've been viewed and-ta-dah-paid twice as fast for free. visit quickbooks-dot-com.

the president and the rnc are on board with roy moore. but his would be senate colleagues are not. a new split over the controversial senate candidate one week to election day. frankly the idea that our president is above the law is nixonian. >> the president's legal strategy causing widespread confusion even with the lawyers not on the same page. we have the latest on the russia investigation. >> you're reopening wounds on them too. enough's enough. stop playing around. with people's lives. >> and billy bush venting in his first public interview since the access hollywood tape went public. what he say bs the president in the wave of sexual misconduct claims now resurfacing. >> i'm dave briggs. it is 4:30 perseastern time.

we start with the alabama election one week before voters go to the polls a new fracture in the republican party over senate candidate roy moore. on monday president trump threw his full support behind roy moore. democrats refusal to give one vote for massive tax cuts is why we need republican roy moore to win in alabama. >> in a phone call to the candidate they say the president called moore, called him a fighter and finished up by saying "go get 'em, roy." >> walking aways last nonts over the allegations -- the rnc will transfer money to the alabama republican party. >> but moore -- colorado's cory gardner sticking to the position he laid out last month saying he

beliefs moore's accusers and added if he refuses to with draw and wins the senator should vote to exp el him because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the senate. many other republicans not thrilled with working side by side with moore. >> i still think it's unfortunate. we're going have a tough enough time in the coming years and being the party of roy moore is not going to help. >> i've learned long ago voters don't want to be told from washington who to vote for. i've made my position clear on mr. moore but it's not up me tore the president. it's up to the people of alabama. >> then this, digging in as a committed moore opponent. mitt romney tweeting. it would be a stain. no vote, no majority is worth losing our honor and integrity it. >> not not shying from a fight,

moore responded either mitt romney has lost his courage or doesn't care about truth anymore. ironically the hashtag drain the swamp appearing on that. "the washington post" says doug jones up by 3 points well within the poll's margin of error. >> the president set to attend the opening of a civil rights museum. he will be in two states that border alabama without being in h alabama before the election. >> series of new twists in president trump's constantly shifting legal strats strategy for the russia investigation. he tweeted he knew michael flynn lied to the fbi before trump fired him, an assertion that raises questions about obstruction of justice. his personal lawyer claimed he

drafted that tweet and offered a defense that the president cannot obstruct justice because he has every right to express his view of any case. >> that claim drew howls of protests from critics and by late monday a white house lawyer ty cobb was down playing it telling "the washington post" the theory is not the president's official legal strategy. the president's lawyers intend to present a fact-based defense, not a mere legal defense. as for whether the president can in fact obstruct justice, it wo noting that articles of impeachment against clinton and nixon did include obstruction charges. >> another white house lawyer told president trump in january, he believed flynn had misled the fbi. that raises questions about what the president knew when he urged then director comey to drop the investigation. something by the way the president says never happened.

>> it also appears the testimony does not line up. that coninterest dicts a court filing that says flynn spoke to a senior transition team official about what to discuss with kislyak. >> cnn has report the mcfarland is was the senior -- >> fbi director chris ray responding now to president trump's claim that the bureau's reputation is quote in tatters. email reading becauseth importance of the mission we are entrusted with great power and should expect and welcome people asking tough questions about how we use that power. we find ourselves under the microscope each and every day and rightly so. >> he finished off with keep

calm and tackle hard. the president's criticism the fbi intensified after -- >> cnn has learned that the expert peter strzok is the person who changed a key phrase when james comey described how hillary clinton handled classified information. >> billy bush speaking out for the first time since nbc fired him. overnight he sold stephen colbert he felt like he got hit in the gut when he first heard himself donald trump on that tape. >> he last week, for some reason, came out with that's not my voice. and what that does, though is

multiple -- i objetold you abou own personal problem with it. but then you've got 20 women at the time -- 0 i don't know what the exact number is but 20 women who used their names. powerful people being held accountable. all of these women came out with their names and told their detailed accounts. 20 women don't get together and say hey, what would be really fun, let's take down a powerful guy together. they don't. i said okay. you're reopening wounds on them too. enough's enough. stop playing around. people's lives. that upset me. >> one interesting side note. billy bush told colbert former "today" show host matt lauer spoke privately trying to save his job when the tape leaked last year. >> michigan congressman will make an ajouns. on the radio this morning. the "new york times" reports

conyers plans to announce he will not seek reelection amid allegations he sexually harassed former members of his staff. the times sites ian conyers who says he plans to run. >> the 88-year-old conyers is the longest current serving member of the he already gave up his position on the judiciary committee. the younger conyers expects the congressman to finish his term. >> breaking over night, a fast-moving fire in california, charring 10,000 acres. hundreds of thousands without power, one person is dead. that's next on "early start." (male #1) it's a little something

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so who needs to go to the doctor when you can just head ta cvs? that's the logic behind the $69 billion purchase of aetna. the companies plan to transform cvs's locations into community health care centers. they say by overseeing both benefits they can improve an inefficient system. critics are skeptical. few expect it will lower drug costs. if the deal is even approved. the justice department recently sued to block another so called vertical merger. at&t's purchase of time warner. both deals concern companies that are not direct competitors

but stave off competition. the justice department has blocked other defensive mergers this year. >> breaking right now, southern california, more than 1,000 homes under mandatory evacuation. that's a huge deadly wildfire rages out of control. this is the seen north of santa paula. the names have now burned about 10,000 acres, 260,000 without power. the santa paula unified school distribut distribut district has announced closing. >> 4 nts 3 magnitude earthquake striking near the town of peri, oklahoma. it was located 60 miles or so from the city. there have been no reports of damages or injuries. >> house of cards lives for one final episode. netflix says the political drama

will return for an eight-episode sixth season with robin wright as the lead character. the fate of house of cards has been unclear since cutting ties with kevin spacey. a production on the final season endin expected to resume early next year. in the fifth seen she has already emerged as sort of the alpha character and side lined him. >> will they kill him off? >> i don't know. but she can clearly handle it. >> she's great. liangelo ball one of the three ucl basketball players arrested on the trip to china leaving the school. the team's coach releasing a statement saying they respect the decision they have made and wishing him the best in the future. he and two teammates arrested on suspicion of steals sunglasses.

president trump made a personal appeal on their behalf. lavar ball says the family is exploring other options. they are houston strong. sports illustrated naming texan star jy watt and jose altuve as sport rs persons of the year. on field performance and civic contributions in the wake of hurricane harvey which devastated houston and its surrounding area. watt has raised more than $37 million in relief aid. both he and altuve will be honored. >> he has already declared he will not get the honor but president trump is one of 10 finalists for time magazine's person of the year. the amazon chief, jeff bezos. dreamers, me too movement. special counsel robert murler, president trump, who was the 2016. >> do they want to troll the

president and name kim jong-un or colin kaepernick? i think probably not. >> organic that i think that -- that's a top. >> >> why are more people investing. booze, women or movies? cnn "money" stream next.

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foreign agents, all of them backed by the u.s. government. the move seen by the kremlin as retaliation after u.s. imposed mese ures against the top russian -- >> good morning to you. this just a couple weeks after the president criticize the cnn international on twitter. >> dave, among those nine media outlets you mentioned radio free europe and voice of america both funded by the u.s. government, and everyone others are linked to those two. one of them is based on consent on crimea. after the russian invasion that you get a sense of the kind of content. russian says that this is a direct mirror response to the u.s. government compelling sputnik to register under the foreign registration act.

they say this is a direct mirror response, no more, no less, on russian senators telling the media they don't expect the list to expand unless something else happens on the u.s. side. as for what this means, they will have to register with the ministry of justice. and brand the contents. and submit to various reporting requirements. the so, tit for tat response. >> live in moscow. thanks. >> president trump facing two lawsuits for dramatically shrinking two utah national monuments. the president cut them by some 2 million acre, the largest rollback of protection land in the u.s. history. >> the other by a group of nay

tooif american tribes over the bears ears national monument, no comments on either from the white house. >> the president decision to shrink the monuments reducing restrictions placed by presidents clinton and obama. environmentalists argue the decision will destroy the national heritage and among those lawsuits, five native american indian tribes are suing. >> this morning the revised version of the president trump's travel ban now in effect as appeals work their way through the court system. monday's supreme court ruling is a significant though possibly temporary win. this latest version placed varying levels of restriction on is it zens of eight countries, lower courts in two separate challenges had partially blocked the bans.

>>reporter: good morning, a victory for the trump administration, at least for now. as the supreme court green lights travel ban 3.0 pending a full resolution of the appeal. this case has had dozens of twists and turns since president trump signed the first executive order back in january. but this is the first time the justices have allowed this version of the ban to go forward in its entirety potentially signaling they may be more inclined to rule in favor of this ban down the line. now, naturally, the decision was claimed as a win which attorney general jeff sessions and the white house which said in a statement we are not surprised. -- enforcement. president's prok lam nation limiting travel from countries with heightened risk. -- vowed to continue the fight saying we continue to stand for freedom, equality and for those who are

unfairly being separated from their loved ones. le now monday's decision means the travel ban can now be enforced while these other legal challenges make their way through the court system but the over all legality will be heard by two different courts later this week. >> thank you for that. the president of abc news lashk ought at his staff over a serious error by reporter brian ross. he reported flynn was to tef that then candidate donald trump instructed him to reach out to the russians. seven hours later, on world news tonight, ross changed his reporting saying flynn was prepared to tef trump made that request when he was press elect. >> he told them quote i don't think ever in my career have i felt more rage and

disappointment and frustration that i felt through this week & the last half of friday. i don't know how many times we talked about this, how many times we talked about the need to get it right. that's how we have to be right and not first. >> he also announced ross -- expressed frustration that it took more than everyone hours for abc to clarify the story before later issuing a full blown correction. he says they will pay a price for that for a long time. let's get a check on cnn "money" stream. wall streets tax reform celebration faded. at first the dow soared 300 points after the senate passed that bill with huge corporate tax cuts but that rally vanished. the dow ending 58 points higher. still, that was enough to hit a record high. n nas -- use their spare cash too

ramp up stock buy-backs. >> why should congress kill the estate tax? what? senator chuck grassry told the demoney register a people who invest their money benefit, as open posed to those spending every darn penny they have whether it's on booze, women or movies. called classist? men inheriting all the money. grassley told cnn haze comments were taken out of context. he has long called it unfair to farmers and ranchers who inherit their estates. just 80 family own farms it's estimated will pay any state tax. facebook is rolling out a

messeng messenger app for kids under 13. children can video chat and send messages to friends approved by the parents. this messenger app allows facebook to win over younger use users. a know a lot of kids are already on instagram and snap chat. >> at 6? >> under 13. >> right. sure. but do we need more she hocial media? i would love less. >> my kids play the piano and do differential ekwaugss. >> a lot of ipad. rlts continues rite now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the president rnc are on board with roy moore but his would be senate colleagues are not. a new split.

>> frankly the idea in a our president is above the law is nixoni nixonian. >> not on the same page. we have the latest on the russia investigation. >> you're reopening wounds on them too. enough's enough. stop playing around with the -- people's lives. >> there he is. billy bush venting in his first public interview since the access hollywood tape went public. what he say bs the president and the wave of sexual misconduct claims. >> it's tuesday, december 5, we'll get to all the stories shortly. first, breaks news out of southern california, almost 8,000 homes under mandatory evacuation as a huge deadly wildfire rages out of control. this is the scene north of santa