$1,000. we've got to move on. set your dvrs and never miss an episode of "the five." "special report" is next. bret, do you want a dog calendar? >> bret: these transitions get more interesting every day. >> greg: i am transitioning now. >> on this vote, the year are 227. i've adopted without objection. laid upon the table. >> the first major overhaul of the u.s. tax code and 31 years past the house today but not without complications. the house will likely get a do over tomorrow morning after the senate makes changes, votes and it passes a new version tonight. this is a fox news alert. i am bret baier coming from capitol hill from

"special report." they're here in the senate majority leader's office. we will speak with senate majority leader mitch mcconnell about the upcoming senate vote for tax reform legislation little bit later. we will get the democrat side. democratic house minority whip will talk to must live as well. first, where things stand right now. where it is and why does the house have to vote again if the senate passes it tonight? peter doocy is down the hall. he's got the latest. >> good evening. the parliamentarian in the senate agrees with democrats who complained. for the tax bill to have a vote. two education provisions must be tripped out and then the g.o.p. has to change the name. apparently tax cuts and jobs act is a rule breaker. once it's fixed, the house will have a chance to do this.

again. >> on this vote, the 227, conference report adopted. >> the roar of republican lawmakers who follow through on a major campaign promise drowned out the protesters scattered throughout the gallery. >> we are giving the people of this country their money back. this is their money, after all. >> you are lying. >> out of order. >> minutes after it sailed through the house, it was carried across capital to the senate. >> mr. president, a message from the house of representatives. >> democrats didn't have the votes to derail the tax bill but they dramatically try to discourage republicans from supporting it. >> shame, shame. >> the heart of the argument that the tax code would only benefit the rich.

>> is this about helping people living paycheck to paycheck? hell no. is it going to bring back jobs and lift up the middle class? hell no. >> the majority had just as much volume. >> i say hell yes they are going to be helped. >> republicans could be hurting when reelection time comes. >> this bill will be an anchor around the ankles of every republican. it still helps the wealthy and powerful corporations it does so little and even hurts many of the middle class. it's a loser. >> republicans don't seem worried. >> it's an historic day. >> even though the gears of the government are famous for grinding slowly, republicans they will belong until constituents benefit. >> on february 1, look at your paychecks. you'll see the tax relief we

delivered today. on april 15, you will, for the last time, file your taxes under this horrible, terrible tax code that we are putting behind us for the american people. >> a few minutes ago the vice president mike pence told fox news he thinks they are in great shape. not worried about the house having a revote tomorrow. house majority leader kevin mccarthy says take two will be tomorrow morning and then it should be ready for president trump's signature. >> bret: peter doocy, thank you for joining us now. actually we are drowning him. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell here in his office. thank you very much. senator, will this past night? cigarettes only. there are couple little glitches that peter correctly identified in his centerpiece. required to go back to the house, minor adjustments. >> bret: to get into the

process, "special report" viewers sometimes get in the weeds. this is called the byrd rule, enables you to have reconciliation to pass it with one votes. essentially there were a couple provisions that didn't fit according to the parliamentaria parliamentarian. you have to vote on this bill, and it's different than when the house passed and then send it back. >> slightly. this has happened before and reconciliation. it's complicated and probably boring to your viewers but we will fit the parameters. the bill is basically going to pass and go to the president as is. it's a significant middle class tax relief, contrary to the democratic talking points. equally important, we are going to have american business a chance to compete globally agai again. we have basically been priced out of the global market which he'd stop showing of american jobs. the theme behind this bill is to get middle-class tax relief for most people in the middle class.

somebody was saying, they will recognize it when their take-home pay changes. couple that with making american business more competitive. we have eight years of stagnant growth. the country is significantly underperforming. we think a combination of the regulatory changes that the president has already made plus this tax reform gives us a chance to get growing again. early indications, there is enthusiasm about this. we've had two quarters of 3% growth. i don't want to read too much into it but that's the right direction. consumer confidence is way up. stock market is at 5,000. i think there's a lot of feeling in the country that we just haven't been performing up to our potential. this gives us a chance to do it. >> bret: you are not going to be surprised that democrats jumped on this technical snafu quickly. a statement saying "in their headlong rush to jam their

partisan, unpopular tax legislation through congress, republicans wrote a bill that hadn't been read carefully enough to ensure it complied with senate percy jewell ruled. whatever happened to republicans insistence on reading votes before voting on them? we will be dealing with poorly written language and hidden loopholes for years to come." >> obamacare have the same kind of glitch. >> bret: are you worried about where this goes if the growth does not materialize? >> you can worry about a lot of things but we know for sure is that the country hasn't been growing as it should. that's not an argument for the status quo. i think every democrat who votes against this and apparently it's all of them in the house and senate, are saying we are satisfied with where we are. we can live with slow growth. they don't want to get america performing again? as recently as a couple years ago, a lot of democrats were

saying we ought to get the corporate tax rate down. what has changed? donald trump's president. they change their position. they are simply not interested in doing the kinds of things economists believe will get the country growing again. we see the country differently. we're going to have an argument in the fall about whether this was the right thing to do. we are looking forward to making the argument. >> bret: senator manchin painted differently. he suggested that it's you who didn't want them engaged in the tax bill. >> i gave them a litany of things i thought ten or more democrats will vote for. 60 or 65 votes. i believe it's possible. if you have regular order. once mitch mcconnell decided that 51 votes was all that was needed and that they were going to be all republicans and make it political, that's exactly what happened. >> we did follow regular order.

reconciliation is regular order. they used it for obamacare. all but three democratic senator sent me a letter before august outlining the kind of tax reform they would support. it had nothing to do with getting the country growing again. they had every opportunity to participate. hearings, committee votes. we had votes when it cleared the floor the first time. they had plenty of opportunity to participate. >> bret: are you going to get any democrats tonight? >> i wouldn't think so. no, i think they think they want to have a big debate about this this year. we're happy to have it. >> bret: the government shutdown. you could have a victory in the senate and possibly the house tomorrow morning and then face the prospect of the government shutting down by the end of the week. >> not going to happen. neither side wants to do that. >> bret: what are you giving on? >> we will work it out. we always do. >> bret: is daca on the table?

>> senator schumer and i have discussed it. daca will be discussed next year. the president has given us until march to address it. we have plenty of time to do it. >> bret: in other words, in other short-term continuing resolution? >> put another way, no government shutdown. your original question. >> bret: that's true. let me talk to something you touts, federal judges. overlooked often has been the moving of the number of judges. the president has 12 that have gone through. in comparison, if you look at the stats, that's a. how important is it to you? >> hugely important. the circuit court system was set up in 1891. we have done 12 circuit judges this year. that's a record for the first year of any president since 1891.

these are long-standing changes in the federal judiciary that i think will improve dramatically. this is on the heels of the neil gorsuch confirmation. one of the underreported, i'm glad you brought it up. one of the unreported successes of this administration and this republican senate because we are in the personnel business unlike our friends in the house, is the changes we are bringing about. federal courts. these are young conservative in the sense that they believe the job of the judges to try to interpret the laws as written, not to try to make things up. those of the kinds of people of the president is installing. we're going to continue to do that as long as the american people give us a majority. >> bret: some nominees did meet the standard and were pulled off. >> that always happens. a few district judges. i thought we were talking about circuit judge. there were a few district judges pulled out. that's happened in every administration. >> bret: one last thing about

pay-as-you-go. the law says if the democrats don't waive it, we're going to have significant cuts. if the president signs it in 2017, $25 billion comes out of medicare next year. >> bret: that's not going to happen. we would never allow that to happen even though it's possibl possible. i don't think republicans or democrats will want to do it. >> bret: do you think the president will sign it this year? >> this tax bill, absolutely. >> bret: you have no doubts. >> it's going to pass and he will sign it in all likelihood this week. >> bret: we appreciate your time. the white house is interested in everything going on here. vice president pence is overseeing the senate. he is on standby for the vote and obviously the president is watching everything. john roberts is on the north lawn with reaction from the white house. >> feeling pretty good here. white house isn't celebrating just yet. staffers remind fox news that

they are pulled defeat from the jaws of victory before but they feel this time victory is within reach. >> really for americans is on the way. >> after disappointing failures with repeal and replacing obamacare, president trump may be within hours of accomplishing his signature legislative achievement. >> big priorities we have, make it easy, make it fair, when again come on bring it home. >> the president got his objectives in the bill but let slide a major promise to make wealthy hedge fund managers pay more by eliminating the so-called carried interest loophole. while the president said this bill would cost him big time, the white house grudgingly acknowledged he might save some taxes too. >> in some ways, on the personal side, the president will likely take a big hit but on the business side he could benefit. >> tax reform may pass today but might not become law to the new year. likely president trump won't get the bill from congress until

friday in the white house needs to review it, processed them i take a few days. the president could have a bill sent to him at mar-a-lago to sign next week but more likely fox is told a big signing ceremony in washington when congress returns the beginning of january. waiting until january but also postpone possible cuts to entitlement programs like medicare to offset the cost of tax reform. the white house fully expects to get waivers to those cuts in a spending agreement over the next three days. democrats blocked the waivers for political reasons, not signing the tax bill until january will put off cuts until 2019. as the white house was chilling the champagne in anticipation, it turned up the heat on north korea. declaring that pyongyang was responsible for a cyber attack in may. >> malicious behavior growing

more egregious. it starts with this accountability. >> the white house revealed microsoft and facebook helped take down the tools north korea relied on. microsoft president brad smith saying "we helped disrupt the malware this group relies on. disabled accounts being used to pursue cyber attacks and strengthening windows defenses." north korea has repeatedly denied any involvement in the infection. the white house doesn't buy it. tom bossert urging nations and industry to band together. >> president trump has used about every lever you can use short of starving the people of north korea to adapt to change their behavior. we don't have a lot of room left to apply pressure. >> president trump took some time today to dispute reports he considered pulling the

nomination of judge neil gorsuch for the supreme court after gorsuch said the president's attacks on twitter against a federal judge were "demoralizing." the president said he had no intention of pulling gorsuch's nomination, called the whole thing fake news. fox news was told the president was frustrated when he read those reports. eventually he got over it. >> bret: john roberts, thanks. coming up, ever wonder why those must-have holiday gifts are impossible to find? we have a story that explains it. the democrat response to today's tax reform votes here on capitol hill. we will talk live with the house minority whip when "special report" continues. ( ♪ ) you are going to be a big surprise. (whining) aww, i see a big puppy. i see a b-i-i-g pu-u-ppy. hey greg! that's ford, america's best-selling brand.

now get exclusive holiday offers, with 0% financing for 72 months across a full line up. for a limited time, get an additional $1,000 cash back on top of 0% financing for 72 months. get these exclusive offers during the ford year end sales event. get these exclusive offers the unpredictability of a flaree may weigh on your mind. thinking about what to avoid, where to go, and how to work around your uc. that's how i thought it had to be. but then i talked to my doctor about humira, and learned humira can help get and keep uc under control... when certain medications haven't worked well enough. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain

fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. raise your expectations and ask your gastroenterologist if humira may be right for you. with humira, control is possible.

>> bret: this is a fox news alert. welcome back to capitol hill. we are now located in statuary hall in the capital. awaiting a vote in the u.s. senate on the republican tax reform bill. the house passed the measure earlier today. if the senate passes, members of the house will have to redo vote on an altar bill. that will happen tomorrow. let's talk about what all of this means with house minority whip steny hoyer, democrat of maryland. thanks for being here. you just heard the interview with the senate majority leader. your reaction. >> as i said in my statement that you read to him, it was clear that they hadn't read through the bill and knew it was going to be consistent with senate rules. they wanted to pass it tonight and send it to the president tomorrow. >> bret: his point was this happens. happened with obamacare.

>> yeah, and of course it is somewhat embarrassing, though. an unexpected because they said it was going to move right to the president. in any event, you are right. that's not the main issue. the main issue is it's a bad bill. bad bill for the country. it's going to create great debt. and it's perverse in the sense that it gives some 83% of the tax cuts to the wealthiest in america. senator mcconnell said substantial tax cuts. 17% of $1.5 trillion is substantial. when you see that the wealthiest in america get a huge tax cut in the middle class not only doesn't get a huge tax cut. they get a minimal tax cut in its phased out and about eight years. >> bret: this is what congressman william said with maria bartiromo today. >> i don't know what their alternative is. in the past, it spent to raise

taxes. that's not work. i think the fact that you're going to give people their money back instead of giving it to the federal government is a pretty good argument. it's disappointing. whenever you have no vote for something, it's a political vote. >> bret: basically they are saying where's the democrat alternative? do you think your constituents want tax reform and want some way, shape, or form? >> we are for tax reform. president obama came before the congress three years ago and said we need to bring the corporate tax rate down. mr. neal, or ranking member, wanted to participate. ron wyden wanted to participate. this was done through reconciliation process. because they wanted to do it in a partisan way. there was no inclusion of democrats in this process. frankly when the senator says want to give tax cuts, frankly we want to give tax cuts as well. but the fact of the matter is we

want to do so in a bipartisan way as we did in 1986. it was paid for. we didn't create any new debts. ronald reagan and tip o'neill working together. we should've done that this time. what event a better bill for the country and it wouldn't have skewed the resources. 83% of the wealthiest -- >> bret: will you waive the pay-as-you-go stipulation? >> i wrote a letter to say don't count on us for that and we're going to see what they are going to do but what they are doing is, in this bill, activating panko. what was it for? to get to the balanced budget. to do what the republicans always say they want to do: be fiscally responsible. what's the first thing they want to do after they pass the tax bill? waive it. it adds 25 billion come over $100 billion to the deficit.

we are not necessarily signing onto that at this point. >> bret: we are approaching another fiscal cliff at the end of this week. what's your prediction on how that's going to go? the senator suggests, the majority leader suggests that our conversations behind the scenes that he feels he's confident about at least temporarily. >> in those conversations, they may be going on in the senate. i don't think they are going on in the house. i don't that we have a sense of what they are doing. what we do know is that so much work that needs to be done that should've been done months ago, weeks ago, has not been done and therefore we are coming upon doing a chip bill, children's health insurance program where millions of children stand at risk of losing their insurance. nobody wants that to happen but we keep passing and we passed this time a partisan approach that which democrats think hurts other health care.

items they want to cut like children's inoculations. >> bret: does the government shutdown? >> we don't want to shutdown the government. the only people who can shut it down are republicans. we don't have the votes to shut it down. it's the one you have the votes to prevent it from being shut down. >> if they vote on their programs, they've got 240 members. but it any difference. >> bret: you know this is the game we play. who is holding the ball at the end? stick of the game we play is that for the last seven years, since 2011, six years, they haven't been able to pass up fiscal bill but they want to act in a partisan fashion right up until they can get the votes. then they want our help. >> bret: is there a way to make it bipartisan? is there a way to make it work? >> absolutely. we have done that in the past. and they have done it in the past. john boehner did it. we acted in a bipartisan basis

with john boehner on a number of items. making sure doctors were compensated for medicare. we have worked in a bipartisan basis. we tapped the government open. every time it's kept open, it is kept open because of democratic votes. one time, the three leaders, republican leaders wanted to keep the government open. they only got 84 of their members to vote with them. 87. they had 250 members. it was democrats that kept it open. >> bret: so you're optimistic? >> we haven't had a great show of bipartisanship up to this point. i am hopeful they will reach across the aisle and we will have discussions and do the things the american people need done. >> bret: congressman, we appreciate your time. they say speed kills. it may have. we will tell you how fast the

amtrak train was going yesterday before he derailed. here's what some of our fox affiliates around the country are covering. fox 2 in detroit. nine michigan cities and counties filed lawsuits against opioid manufacturers distributors and retailers. they contend they are responsible for the record level of opioid abuse. fox richmond, indictments for an ohio man accused of driving into a crowd, protesting a white nationalist rally in virginia. james alex fields is facing ten felony counts, including first-degree murder. i woman was killed, and authority say 35 people were injured. this is a live look at orlando from fox 35. one of the big stories there tonight, and animatronic figure of president trump has taken its place in the hall of presidents at disney world. the company spokesman says the president recorded his script earlier this year. the trump figure is standing between saving images of abraham lincoln and

ulysses s. grant. that is tides live look outside the beltway. "special report" from capitol hill continues after this. commission investment products, fisher investments avoids them. some advisers have hidden and layered fees. fisher investments never does. and while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management. (avo) but you also have a higher risk of heart attack or stroke. non-insulin victoza® lowers a1c, and now reduces cardiovascular risk. victoza® lowers my a1c and blood sugar better than the leading branded pill. (avo) and for people with type 2 diabetes treating cardiovascular disease, victoza® is now approved

to lower the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. and while it isn't for weight loss, victoza® may help you lose some weight. (avo) victoza® is not for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not take victoza® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. stop taking victoza® and get medical help right away if you get symptoms of a serious allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. so, stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area. tell your doctor your medical history. gallbladder problems have happened in some people. tell your doctor right away if you get symptoms. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, decreased appetite, indigestion, and constipation. side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. ask your doctor about victoza®.

♪ >> bret: federal officials in washington state say the amtrak train the derailed yesterday, spilling cars onto a busy highway, was traveling almost three times the speed limit at that particular point. at least three people were killed. last night officials were saying six dead. they are offering no explanation for the discrepancy today. let's get the latest. dan springer is in washington state at the scene. good evening. >> hi, bret. the team from the national transportation safety board arrived last night. they are holding a news conference at this hour and one thing is perfectly clear. the train's bead will be major focus.

>> preliminary indications are that the train was traveling at 80 miles per hour and a 30-mile-per-hour track. >> the event data recorder is starting to provide the first clues as to what possibly caused amtrak train 500 want to go off the tracks. as the cars are removed, investigators are looking into factors, including why the train was going more than double the speed limit for the area. >> they are looking in operations, the track, the mechanics. survival factors, human performance. >> the team will interview the engineer, conductor and crew members on the trip from seattl seattle. >> the train to portland was the inaugural day. they were on the bypass tracks from where they used to go around the water. >> washington state d.o.t. received grants to modify the tracks for passenger use that rerouted trains to an inland route along i-5. amtrak confirms the train wasn't

using positive train control. the system uses gps, wireless radio, and computers to stop trains from colliding, derailing, and speeding. >> the slightest oversight and you are in this jackpot and that's why we really, for 25, 30 years, the national transportation safety board has been begging the railroad industry to implement positive train control. every time he gets close, our congress pushes it back. >> many of the dozens injured are still hospitalized tonight. ten are said to be in serious condition. we know the identities of two of the three people killed in the accident. both were big advocates of train travel. members of the rail passengers association. >> bret: dan springer live in dupont, washington. down day on wall street. dow lost, s&p 500 dropped. nasdaq finished off 31.

parents trying to get the hot christmas toys for their kids this season are up against a lot more than just other shoppers. automated computer programs called grinch bots have gobbled up many top toys which are resold for many times the retail price. molly line under unpleasant holiday twist to the law of supply and demand. >> high attacked software is the new grinch, making it tough to find the must-have toy. software robots run automated hunts on the web, overwhelming retail sites with bulk orders. >> sales are popping up on major retailers that are sold in seconds. >> scalpers resell the goods. this year's top target, fingerlings. laura oliver runs a website. >> i have had readers tell me they've had their fingerling in their cart and when they've gone

to check out, it was gone. >> the critters should cost $18 but they are sold out at most toy stores. they are now selling online for as much as 1,000 bucks. another target, the super nintendo nes classic edition. available on ebay for double the money. many retailers try to block the bots. how do you know the difference between a grandma with 14 grandkids who all get the same gift and somebody who is a bad actor trying to resell the merchandise? it's very difficult. >> the new mexico senator working to expand the law. >> we are prohibiting the kind of activity which spoils christmas for young people and consumers targeting these grinch bots and making sure they can't continue making this activity. >> the new rules come too late

for this christmas but laura oliver suggests that instead of manga scalpers mark up and giving the grinch's satisfaction, consider writing an iou. >> bret: a top fbi official answers charges of bureau bias in the russian and clinton email investigations. "special report" continues after the break. 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.

♪ >> bret: top fbi official under pressure from many republicans to resign on capitol hill today. deputy director and her mccabe testified behind closed doors. questions expected about perceived bias in the russia and clinton email investigations. james rosen has more. >> after intense wrangling, even threats of contempt citation,

deft bitty fbi director and her mccabe appeared before the house intelligence committee for interrogation behind closed doors. >> a ton of questions. he cuts across every facet of every investigation that your viewers are interested in. >> mccabe drew scrutiny when it was revealed his wife received nearly half a million dollars from a group controlled by virginia governor terry mcauliffe, a close ally of bill and hillary clinton. mccabe oversaw the investigation into secretary clinton's private server. devin nunes and his team are probing the involvement with the fusion gps dossier. it was purportedly used to obtain a warrant for surveillance on a trump campaign advisor. >> talks about a discussion in andrew's office. could be and her mccabe. >> and then there's peter strzok, remove from the russia

investigation for sending anti-trump text messages, including one that says i want to believe the path you throughout for consideration. that there is no way he gets elected. i'm afraid we can't take that risk. it's like an insurance policy. >> it sounds like collusion in the fbi. the idea that the entire fbi is full of liberals, i grew up in a very liberal household, no one said please be an fbi agent. >> another key figure to whom the house intelligence committee has demanded axis, demoted official bruce ohr, revealed to have met secretly with the men behind the dossier. set to appear on wednesday. before the senate intelligence committee. >> bret: white house officials say they are disappointed active republicans on the senate banking committee helped shoot down president trump's nominee to run the export import bank.

scott garrett of new jersey voted to close the bank when he was in the house. he did not apologize for that during his confirmation hearing. the bank provides loans, credit insurance and loan guarantees to help foreign buyers purchase u.s. exports. tonight a follow-up on monday's report about a major publication alleging the obama administration sabotaged its own efforts to stop the hezbollah terror group. hezbollah tied to iran. politico alleges it was all about the iran nuclear deal. this evening doug mckelway has more details. >> to understand how deep the tentacles of hezbollah run through the americans, consider the vice president of venezuela. he is the son of lebanese-syrian immigrants. he is believed to be the mastermind behind the transnational drug train run by

venezuelan army generals who facilitate the shipment of cocaine from colombia and bolivia through venezuela to the united states, north africa, and europe. hume may also have placed terrorists throughout the western hemisphere. >> he used cuban security information to basically provide venezuelan passports to at least 173 individuals in the middle east. >> hezbollah's influence predates this army. claiming credit for a truck bomb in argentina. in 2011, the fbi disrupted a hezbollah plot to murder the saudi ambassador to the u.s. in 2015, a brazilian magazine reported the late venezuelan president hugo chavez transferred technology to iran. the politico piece alleges the obama white house pulled back on

hezbollah investigations. it quoted john brennan saying the policy's intention was to build up modern elements within hezbollah. >> it is delusional. everybody in the iranian hierarchy, whether they are moderate on religious and social issues or extremist, all of them favored the iranian nuclear weapons program. >> the administration would ignore one terrorist group because you were trying to curry favor with another group. >> one of two members is calling for congressional investigation investigations. >> bret: we will stand the story. thanks. next up, the paddle on what tax reform really means and where we are tonight. next. no matter how the markets change... at t. rowe price... our disciplined approach remains. global markets may be uncertain... but you can feel confident . . it's red lobster's

new ultimate surf & turf event. and that means five mouthwatering pairings to choose from. like our new feast with lobster-wrapped scallops and a juicy steak. or a new lobster and seafood-topped filet. hurry in! it ends december 31st. when you have a cold, hurry in! stuff happens. ♪ { sneezing ] shut down cold symptoms fast [ coughing ] with maximum strength alka seltzer plus liquid gels.

>> can you vote with this bill with a clear conscious? hell no, you can't. >> all the people you reference in the middle class, i say hell yes they are going to be helped by this bill. >> they are putting it on the credit card and adding $2.3 trillion to the federal debt. merry christmas. >> here's how confident house republicans are that they have the vote to pass. >> [inaudible] >> we are doing a live shot. >> the nays are 203. the conference report is adopted. without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. >> on february 1st, look at your paychecks. [bell] >> because you will see the tax relief we delivered today. >> bret: the house vote today as you heard 227 to 203. 12 republicans voted against the bill. the president tweeting right after, this vote in the house, congratulations to paul ryan, kevin mccarthy.

steve scalise cathy mcmorris rogers and all great house republicans who voted in favor of cutting your taxes. there was one problem. that they probably are going to have to do it again. they will have to do it again if it's going to get to the president's desk. the senate is getting ready to take it up. but it has to be changed because of rules and sent back to the house tomorrow morning. let's bring in our panel. back in the bureau, job that jonah goldberg. charles hurt, opinion editor for "the washington times." amy, it's a big moment here obviously. and getting ready for the senate vote which senate majority heard mitch mcconnell is very confident about. it's a bit of a process thing here. >> it is a bit of a process thing. i think it's just a hiccup along the way. and we know that ultimately the vote is going to come out and republicans will be where they are today, which is successful in passing tax lebletion through the house, through the sphat. getting it to the president's desk by the end of the year which quite

frankly there were times especiallily earlier this fall and the summer when the idea of a tax anything that said tax reform, tax cut, getting done by the end of the year looked like annual impossibility. the fact is right now it is done. the question as we go forward the republicans were successful in selling the tax bill to their own members, passing it. now they have got to sell it to the american public that at best is skeptical of it. >> bret: jonah? >> i think that's right. in a lot of ways there is a similarity here to obamacare. this was a longly held ideological and political goal of a party in pursuit of this goal they went through an ugly process to pass what was by the polls unpopular legislation based on a bet that it would pay off. i think the republicans think the bet is it's not obamacare. it's more like bill clinton's 1993 budget which was a big mess, too, but it got passed and then the economy took off and bill clinton got to take credit for it i think the republicans want to be able to take credit for what they hope is going to be a

roaring economy. it is a big bet and it is going to increase the deficit. all in all i do think that the press and the democrats have been so demagogue quick and overheated about all of this talking about how it robs the middle class. according to brookings which is not exactly a right wing think tank 80% of americans are going to get some sort of a tax cut. >> bret: charlie, you move onto the next battle, which is just really now, the government shut down. they could have a big win tomorrow with the house passing final tax reform heading to the president's desk. and then hit a bring wall with a government shut down. it seems the senate majority leader seemed to suggest that they are kind of -- he feels confident he has something behind the scenes with chuck schumer. >> yeah. he didn't really want to seem to want to talk about the specifics of that with you in your interview tonight. but i do think that in the short-term, you know, they can celebrate something of a victory despite all of the cursing and scatter walling on the house floor from democrats. if this does mean that it

ignites the economy and we go into the next election even more importantly for donald trump going into the 2020 election, the economy is doing very, very well. all of those complaints that we heard from democrats today and all the scatter walling will be forgotten. republicans are very good at convincing themselves, convincing republicans whatever they have done they are going to lose the next election because of what they have done. in the case of obamacare everybody said -- nobody got on board with obamacare. you are going to lose. they won back the majority. and then after the shut down, they said you are going to pay for this. and they, of course, then went on to reach the highest majority that they ever had. so, i think it's a little early to be scaring republicans at this point. >> bret: yeah, amy, the other thing that was newsy is that daca is not going to come up before the end of the year and they feel like they have some breathing

room even with democrats who obviously have some leverage here. >> yeah. and i think even for democrats they realize that shutting the government down, especially when you are trying to make the case against republicans that they are looking out only for the special interest, looking out for wealthy and corporate interest, not the regular personal, to shut the government down right before christmas, and essentially stop government benefits and the proceeds from the government going to folks right at the end of the year, i just think it's a terrible political argument. i don't think any side win when you say shut the government down. however, going into next year, this is going to be something of a fight, although here is a place that the president is really looking as he said he is in the next year to start reaching out and bringing democrats in after going really on a republican-only strategy. this would be the place to do it. when you look at the polling, you see that a majority of americans believe that these americans -- or these people who are here are basically

americans, even though they did not come to the country legally. and they want to see them stay here not be kicked out of the country. i think when the president speaks on, this he can move his own party on this issue. you have seem that time and time again when the president says he likes something, many members of the party see it differently when it comes from his mouth than when it comes from the mouths of democrats. >> bret: jonah, for all the criticism of president trump, how he does things and tweets things and talks about things. if you do the list and just take away the wrapping paper around it, the list of things that have happened so far, what do you think? >> i think it's a pretty good list. certainly it's a good list compared to what you would have thought the list would be two months ago. as my colleague at national review rich lowry says the whole butt and gorsuch line is over. he has a long list of things that he can tout and some campaign promises.

the interesting thing to me is how it doesn't seem to be reflected in his approval rating. and it could be that while the hard core 34, 36% base of the party is popping champagne right now it could be baked into the cake that a lot more moderate sort of suburban republicans that turned out in big numbers to vote against roy moore that cost he had gillespie his bid in virginia, that those guys are already preturned off to trump and going to take a lot of good things from the economy for them to be turned around. >> bret: charlie, quickly, the administration looks at polls. he likes the polls he likes and doesn't like the other ones. but it doesn't seem that he cares? >> the problem is he doesn't get very much good coverage. he doesn't get very much credit for the things that he has accomplished. i think that going forward, if people feel like they are in better shape, the polls don't matter that much. >> bret: panel, thank you.

when we come back to capitol hill, beware the scam. ♪ ( ♪ ) you are going to be a big surprise. (whining) aww, i see a big puppy. i see a b-i-i-g pu-u-ppy. hey greg! that's ford, america's best-selling brand. now get exclusive holiday offers, with 0% financing for 72 months across a full line up. for a limited time, get an additional $1,000 cash back on top of 0% financing for 72 months. get these exclusive offers during the ford year end sales event.

whentrust the brand doctors trust for themselves. get these exclusive offers nexium 24hr is the number one choice of doctors and pharmacists for their own frequent heartburn. and all day all night protection. when it comes to frequent heartburn, trust nexium 24hr.

>> bret: finally tonight, buzz words are common among politicians. democrats and the president seemed to have honed in on one word an awful lot. >> scam. >> tax bill is a scam. >> this whole russia scam. >> one of the worst pieces of legislation i have ever seen. >> scam. >> obamacare it's a scam. >> it is a tax scam. >> our deficit, the you were 1 percentile. 401(k)'s. >> budget. >> that is their scam. >> the recount vote has come back. you know, i called it a scam but i won't say that because we want to be nice, okay? >> bret: there you have it. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that's it for this "special report" fair, balanced and unafraid from capitol hill tonight. a lot going on here.

the story hosted by my colleague martha ma maccallum starts right now. martha? >> martha: good evening, bret. the story begins on the senate floor where we do expect that we will see passage of this tax bill any minute now. could be a little bit later in the evening, but we are watching it very closely. of course, it will be a huge win to cap off year one for president trump. >> we will cut taxes for the every day hard-working american. people that work so long, so hard and they have been forgotten. >> martha: tonight, this is a moment that many said could never actually happen. >> whether or not we can get tax reform, we're going to see over the next couple of months. >> my problem is that we promised repeal and replace obamacare. we failed. we promised to cut taxes and we have yet to do it. >> some of the things we are doing, ridiculous. if they can't do this, they can't do anything. >> martha: speaker paul ryan has been a believer in this moment for 20 years.