not end any time soon. plus, new buzz around biden and beto a year before any votes are cast. big-name democrats are already choosing sides in the battle to face trump. welcome to "the lead." i'm brianna keilar in for jake today. we begin with breaking news in the money lead. wall street taking a nosedive, the dow closing down close to 700 points, continuing its spiral from 2018. cnn's alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. tell us what caused this plunge. >> reporter: brianna, stocks plunged after apple's bombshell warning that it's going to badly miss wall street expectations that come out in a few weeks. they are going to miss by the billions of dollars because of the economic slowdown in china and u.s./china trade policy put forth by the trump administration, so apple has really become kind of a poster child as to some of the concerns and worries that have rocked

wall street for weeks. but today the apple news really set off this cascade of selling. first of all, with apple shares closing down 10%. slicing 100 points off the dow because of how heavily weighted apple is in the dow index. 15% of apple's revenue comes from china, so tim cook, apple's ceo, blamed the billions of dollars in losses that will be announced in a few weeks. he blamed it on china's economic slowdown and this unresolved trade dispute between china and the u.s. that's undercutting confidence in consumers in china who go out to buy smartphones but who aren't doing that at the moment. brianna? >> alison, thank you. now to the politics lead and the new reality in washington, a stark one for president donald trump, divided government. the 116th congress has been sworn in with democrats taking control of the house of representatives, and nancy pelosi now once again the speaker. today she is giving the president a preview of what may

come asserting it's still an open question, whether a sitting president can be indicted and no ruling out the possibility of pursuing impeachment but also noting that minutes ago that the house will undertake what she calls bipartisan legislation, even quoting and praising two former republican presidents. house democrats meanwhile are ready to investigate every aspect of donald trump, his presidency, his campaign, his business dealings and more. cnn's manu raju starts off our coverage from capitol hill. >> to the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, i extend to you this gavel. >> with that nancy pelosi officially took over as house speaker and the newly emboldened democrats took charge in the house with plans to confront president trump and his administration. >> remembering that the legislative branch is article i, the first branch of government co-equal to the presidency and to the judiciary. >> reporter: the house narrowly

elected pelosi speaker with 220 votes, four more than she needed after 15 democrats revolted against her and when she presided over the house, she tried to strike a positive tone. >> we must be pioneers of the future. this congress must accelerate a future that advances america's preeminence in the world and opens up opportunities for all. snore in the senate the gop added two more seats. now with a 53-47 majority and the ability to protect the president against their democratic foes. >> it's a clear choice and it will be clear to the american people watching all of this at home. good governance or political performance art? the public interest or political spite? policy-making or presidential harassment? >> reporter: democrats say republicans vig in order their

basic jobs of oversight and now have plans to mount what could be the most expansive investigation of a sitting president. the new chairman of the house oversight committee told cnn his first priority will be to get to the bottom of the decision to put a controversial citizenship question on the u.s. census suggesting commerce secretary wilbur ross misled congress. >> he has to answer for something that he said that i don't think was accurate, and what we're going do is be in search of the truth. >> reporter: also, acting attorney general matt whitaker could be forced to appear before the house judiciary committee this month. >> they are trying to get a date, and they are dragging their feet on a date. we'll see what happens. >> reporter: will you send a subpoena to him if he -- >> we have to. >> reporter: while pelosi has her hands full, some of her colleagues are already pushing to impeach the president. >> the road to impeople is a long road, many miles. the standard is high crimes and

misdemeanor, and he has committed the felony of obstruction of justice. >> reporter: pelosi for now wants to keep the focus elsewhere. >> we shouldn't be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn't avoid impeachment for a political reason so we'll have to see how it comes. >> if robert mueller comes back and says i am seeking an indictment? >> i think that's an open discussion. i think that's an open discussion in terms of the law. everything indicates that a president can be indicted after he's no longer president. >> now the top priority for democrats will be to try to protect robert mueller from political interference. jerry nadler, the judiciary committee chairman introduced legislation today to make it harder to dismiss the special counsel. of course, that's a bill that they pushed in the last congress that republicans resisted. expect that to move early in the new corporation and when i asked nadler specifically about moving forward on impeachment proceedings as has been introduced by congressman bradsherman today, he said to

each his own referring to sherman's push to go forward on impeachment. he said he himself not there just quite yet. brianna? >> manu raju, a very busy day on the hill. thank you. bill kristol, to you first. the speaker today in her speech name dropped former republican presidents ronald reagan and george h.w. bush. that no accident. >> yes. she knew what she was doing. she quoted president reagan on something saying in his farewell speech, the well-being of america are depended on couldn't bufgs immigrants, sending a bit of a message to the current republican president and to be fair it's a nice gesture, a new congress. 116th historic moment. supposed to be a bipartisan moment and i personally, maybe this is my corny kind of, you know, civics self or something like that, but it's always sort of moving when you see a peaceful transfer of power. see it every four years with the president, that's more famous than the swearing in and more equally important that we have this 116th country.

not many countries have 116 congresses. >> earlier today the speaker was asked if she would rule out impeachment. she's talking about bipartisanship and also talking about impeachment. i want to play her response. >> we have to wait and see what happens with the mueller report. we shouldn't be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn't avoid impeachment for a political reason, so we'll just have to see how it comes. >> it's like something for everyone in that answer, right? >> well, it's true, but she's -- she's not a fool. she knows how politically charged this is. she knows that her caucus right now is -- yes, there are some -- there are a lot of progressives but also a lot of members from trump -- from former trump districts, from republican districts, that want to talk more about legislating than about the president and she's trying to strike a balance and you heard the same thing from her judiciary committee jerry nadler who says -- hasn't

ruled it out but said, you know, we'll go where the facts take us. if they take us there, great. if not, that's fine, too,ing so they are really trying at this point day one not to overreach. >> but if the facts take them some place and we're still waiting to find out what the mueller report says, but if the facts take them some place and republicans don't go with them, that's going to be a very tough spot for speaker pelosi and democrats. >> it also, but, again, since we don't know what those facts are, we don't know what kind of case that mueller may or may not build, so we'll just -- we'll have to wait and see. >> i mean, i don't like to deal ins if and maybes but the facts do support and if the facts do take them towards the impeachment that means there's facts and something of substance there and if the republicans do not join them for the impeachment ride, if you will, i think that's something that the american people will real very to look at and say, look, the united states congress is supposed to be the greatest deliberate body in the world. this is supposed to be the place where we can address our

differences. the founders wrote impeachment into the constitution for a reason, and if this is part of your duty you should execute it the. today the government want to -- are not going to talk about impeachment. >> i thought her answer was very prudent, very political and very responsible. look, it's premature to recall say that you' -- to say you're going to impeach donald trump but it's too premature to rule it out because you don't know what the mueller investigation will show or what the facts will be and frankly i think -- i think she's got to do what she's got to do and what democrats have to do regardless what have republicans have to do. what we've seen in the last two years is donald trump can get away with doing an awful lot without trigger republican retax. >> but you look, anna, at the new chair of the armed services committee, adam smith, saying it's not too soon to discuss impeachment and congressman bradsherman filing and introducing the articles of impeachment today. for what, you might ask, what's the base for that. they are not on the same page,

democrats. >> nobody is ever on the same page, right in the. >> you answered that with a sound. >> there's been all this talk about nancy pelosi not getting the votes and do we not remember two years ago when paul ryan was going through the saum thing and paul ryan went through nothing in comparison to what john boehner went through from his right flank. it's like herding cats, whether it's republican cats or whether it's democrat cats. it's herding cats because it is not one homogenous blob of people who do the same thinking and speak and represent the same districts. i think democrats have to be very careful not to look petty, premature and political. they have got to go where the facts take them, not before, not after, when they call for them. >> speaker pelosi was asked about the possibility of indicting a sitting president. here's what she said. >> a president who is in office, could robert mueller come back and say i am seeking an indictment? >> i think that that is an open

discussion. >> all right. i do want to say that the white house has just announced a briefing. sarah sanders will come out for the first briefing of the year, not yet, but we're keeping an eye on when that gets going so we'll take a look at that. you heard what she said, sym ho ne. how big of a deal is that for her to say it's an open discussion? >> i think now speaker pelosi is doing exactly what she's supposed to do. you can not simply shut the door on a number of things that have not been asked and answered. it still is -- there's something to discuss. that is an open question. again, today, i think what we've seen from democrats is going into today, again, this historic day. more than 100 women will be sworn in in the united states congress, more women than have ever served at one time. today we're highlighting the historic day and democrats want to get the government back open. yes, speaker pelosi will answer questions about indictment and impeachment all day long what, folks are very concerned about is the fact that we are now going into the second week of a government shutdown. folks are not getting paid. the president is under willing

to move, been unrelenting for wall than more than 57% of the americans don't want the government to shut down over. they will put the bill on the floor. republican senate appropriations bill, mind you, put on the floor before christmas. the ball will now be in mcconnell and president trump's court. >> they won't be page january 11th. that's the date we're moving for. the incoming judiciary committee chairman jerry nadler introduced legislation to protect special counsel robert mueller. how worried should the president be about the new congress? >> he should accept this legislation which is a reasonable attempt to make sure that the mueller investigation is not interfered with for political reasons this. legislation passed in the senate judiciary committee with four republican votes along with democrats. it will get some republican votes in the house and i think they should pass it quickly and

send it over to the senate. interesting to see. i wonder whether mitch mcconnell -- trump's hold on senate republicans, that's the biggest question of the next few days and weeks and months. does he continue to have the stranglehold that anna said he correctly had over the first two years. the november elections, the firing jim mattis resigning and the stock market. a lot of things have come together to weaken that hold now and can mcconnell just say i'm sorry, i'm not bringing it to the floor? if it gets 260 votes in the house, report out of the last senate judiciary committee with republican votes and the same is true with appropriations bils bill can mcconnell say i'm not bringing the bills? do you think next week when there's actual pressure from constituents when they need to do work epa, one thing to close and have a fight over the wall and have a short-term appropriation for homeland security, nothing other to close six other cabinet agencies because you're holding them

hostage for the sake of the wall. the political pressure on senate republicans toss break from trump will be greater than people think. >> look. i think this bipartisan bill to -- it was a bipartisan bill to protect bob mueller is a favor to republicans, the biggest favor they can do to themselves is give themselves a safety net when dealing with an impetuous, impulsive immature president that gives way to temper tantrums. should he one day wake up without his baby bottle next to him and decide he wants to get rid of bob mueller, they will have a hell of a big problem on their hand and at that point they would have wished they had taken the steps to protect mueller. they have got nothing to do, nothing to lose from doing so, from going along with it. it was a republican idea in the senate. it was bipartisan, as bill kristol says. it should be done. it's good for the institution. it's good for america and it's good for the process. >> are they worried about this

being a preemptive rebuke that harms the president before he's done anything? >> they don't want to do anything to upset the president this. wasn't the same senate. it's a different senate. the republicans there are much more beholden to president trump than the ones who left because he wouldn't campaign -- he went and campaigned for a lot of them. so we don't even know what the support would be for a bill like that should it pass the house. i think in the house we're going to see a lot of symbolic things pass in terms of oversight, but they will stay in the house. >> we're keeping an eye right now on the white house briefing room. we're expecting, just learned this moments ago, that there is going to be the first briefing of the year right there. sarah sanders will be taking the podium shortly. we'll go there live. "the lead" will be right back. d when you're ready for what comes next. at fidelity, we make sure you have a clear plan to cover the essentials in retirement,

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and we're back now with breaking news.

the white house minutes ago saying that there would be an unexpected press briefing with sarah sanders, so this is the first of the year, the first of 2019, and we're waiting for that to begin. let's got to our kaitlan collins in the white house, in the briefing room. what is this about? do you have any idea? >> this is a great question. this is not something on the white house schedule and did not give much of a heads up, coming over the loudspeaker announcing there would be a press briefing with the press secretary, sarah sanders in about five minutes. we're sitting here waiting in the briefing room waiting four-game sarah sanders to come out. these briefings are not typical these days, and there's not been many held. certainly the first one this year, but there were not many in november and december either, so that is what essentially everyone is waiting on. of course, one of the biggest topics that will come up is going to be that government shutdown and what's been going on with that. we haven't heard from president trump much today, just a little bit on twitter, but we have not seen him here at the white house even though the vice president mike pence was on capitol hill earlier today swearing in the

new members of the senate as you saw on camera earlier, when that was playing out, but a lot of questions are going to revolve on how much closer we are to come to a compromise to reopen the government. the talks here yesterday in the situation room largely went nowhere according to people in the room, and so that's really going to be the question of have we made any progress with that and have we gone any further. brianna, the president largely spent his christmas holiday here at the white house virtually alone and that was pretty evident by that cabinet meeting where the cameras cam in and the meeting went for almost two hours with the president talking and going around the room and taking questions from reporters at the end so we'll see what he has to say or what his spokesperson has to say when he comes out here in a little bit. >> what do you make of the fact that this is something that is such a surprise? we've seen the focus so much on the hill today. there seems to be at least a respect for getting through the announcement of speaker pelosi before whatever this briefing is about, but, still, it seems to

be pulling the spotlight back to the white house. >> reporter: that is probably something intentional by the white house because the president and the white house have said democrats didn't want to come to a compromise because nancy pelosi wanted to make sure she could secure the votes to become house speaker even though she was unchallenged and the president shifted the message a little bit today when he was blaming it object politics of the upcoming 2020 presidential election even though that's still a ways off as well. look for the white house to try to send a message on the shutdown and try to make it away from what we've been watching play out on television which is the coverage of the new democrats who are going to be in power in washington and really change the trajectory, not only for white house aides here but for president trump as well. of course, brianna, with the white house calling this briefing so last minute, there are a lot of empty seats here in the room because reporters aren't always just hanging around the white house waiting for a briefing to take place, especially because there haven't been that many briefings to begin with lately. still, probably a dozen seats

open in the briefing room right now and we are still waiting on sarah sanders to come to the podium and likely deliver some message about the latest update on the government shutdown and where the white house stands. >> but our kaitlan collins was red, and that's what matters. keep an eye on things for us and give us the sign when things are getting under way and should start any moment now. >> all right, do it. they would no put it out at 4:20 in the afternoon, just a regular briefing, it will be the president himself or some announcenent about the shutdown or some nomination about the secretary of defense or something about the american being held in moscow. i think it would be ridiculous to have sarah sanders come out and answer questions on a day of the new congress so i'm guessing -- >> i'm guessing a surprise. >> did not make the dow and the markets fall even further. >> the markets are closed so everything is fine. >> what -- what do you think,

jackie, about the sort of surprise briefing. i also wonder when it comes to the shutdown, the president tweeted where he was blaming politics on democrats, and i wonder if he's feeling and if you get the sense that he's feeling like this may not be a full-on win for him in this and he needs to be taking steps to at least to appear to be doing something. >> it's pretty clear he's in a corner at this point because you're starting to hear the members that speak with him often, someone like a lindsey graham who a couple days ago was talking about how the president was amenable to a deal, perhaps with a daca fix and a day or two ago lindsey graham was back on tv saying the president's presidency is over if he doesn't win a fight so it does seem like the right wing has played him into a place that's hard to get out of because nancy pelosi is holding firm, and there's a reason she's doing that. she knows politically that she's

on -- she's winning this right now. >> but in a few days there's going to be a lot of pressure because even at this point you have -- you have hundreds of thousands of americans, those are federal workers, not to include the people who are contract workers, who if they don't get paid, they are never going to get paid. >> i have some sitting at home doing arts and crafts this afternoon. >> they might need that calming nature. >> yes. >> they worried about real things. we've seen reporting. >> paying their rent. >> can i pay for my insulin, can i pay my mortgage? i have to defer my car payment and pay interest. >> these are real things americans are being confronted with. the fact of the matter is this is on republicans and president trump. donald trump can get the government open any time and if he refuses to sign a bill then congress needs to do its duty and make sure they have a veto proof majority and get the government back open. this business about kowtowing to the wills of the whims of a tantrum-throwing president, i

just do not understand, but difference is nancy pelosi is now in that room as the speaker of the house, and she is not playing games. she's made very clear, did an interview the other day saying isn't it on you, the reporter asked her, isn't it also own, don't you have some responsibility if you won't compromise and she said, no, i don't have any responsibility because the people do not support a government shutdown over thiswell wall. the government's campaign promise was mexico is going to pay for the wall and now you're asking the american people. donald trump is not about to drag me down the crazy hole. they need to get the government back open. >> donald trump and his white house are masters not of the deal but of distraction and deflection. it's been a pretty good day for nancy pelosi. people are practically playing tambourines and chanting happy songs, and you can sense and see with your own eyes the change that is happening there. there's women all over the place. there's children all over the

place. it's a stark change from what a republican, you know, administration and a republican leadership looks lyrics and i think -- i think this might be some attempt to take away from the spotlight that the democrats have had today with all of these historic firsts. >> let's listen to sarah sanders. >> here we go. >> give a few of my friends a minute to get in. thank you all for coming on short notice and certainly happy new year. welcome back. it's good to be back. we're going to kick 2019 off just slightly differently, and would i like to welcome a very special guest for be a appearance here in the briefing room, our very great president, donald j. trump.

hello, everybody. this is a beautiful place. i haven't seen it. happy new year. happy new year to everybody. well, thank you very much. i appreciate that. thank you. i just want to start off by congratulating nancy pelosi on being elected speaker of the house. it's a very, very great achievement, and hopefully we're going to work together and we're going to get lots of things done, like infrastructure and so much more and i know they want to do that very badly and so do i so hopefully we have a lot of things we can get done together and i think will work out. i think it will be a little bit different than a lot of people are thinking so i congratulate nancy. tremendous, tremendous achievement, and i just wanted to explain to folks that i'm with you today, people i've known very well over the last two year, people that have been extremely supportive of what we're doing on the border. they are tough. they are smart. they think. they love our country. they -- they have every quality, and i'll tell you what.

i really know them well, and they have the kind of qualities that we need in our country, and they have done a fantastic job at the border. it's i.c.e. and it's border patrol and a man who has really become a friend in a sense brandon, i will say this, brandon judd has been a stalwart in terms of justice for people, in terms of fairness and in terms of the toughness you need. you have some pretty tough situations. it doesn't get much tougher, and i want to thank brandon and all of the folks. i'll have them introduce themselves now and also say a few words now about the wall, you can call did a barrier or whatever you want and we'll put this protection in our country. the people of our country want it. i've never had so much supportance i have in the last week over my stance for border

secure, for border control and for frank lit wall or the barrier. i have never had anything like it in terms of calls coming in and in terms of people writing in and tweeting and doing whatever they have to do. i've never had this much support, and we've done some things, as you know, that have been very popular, so i'm going to ask brandon jutd to judd and few words. this group has apprehended last year 17,000 criminals trying to get across the botherrder, 17,0. that's one category and there are plenty of others. the other thing that has been so incredible is what they have done in terms of drugs and stopping drugs, and with that, and with everything else, plenty unfortunately come through our southern border, but i'm going ask brandon to come up and say a few words and maybe introduce our friends and some very brave people. brandon, please, thank you. >> thank you, mr. president, we

really appreciate the support you've given the border patrol and given i.c.e. i'm brandon judd. i've been a border patrol agent for 21 years. i can personally tell you from the work that i have done on the southwest border that physical barriers, that walls actually work. you hear a lot of talk from the expert -- you hear a lot of talk that there are experts that say that walls don't work. i promise you that if you interview border patrol agents, they will tell you that walls work. i worked in nacho, arizona for ten years. we didn't have physical barriers there, and illegal immigration and drug smuggling was absolutely out of control. we built those walls, those physical bearsiers, and illegal immigration dropped exponentially. anywhere that you look where we have built walls, they have worked. they have been an absolute necessity for border patrol agents in securing the border. we need those barriers, and we

appreciate president trump and all of his efforts in getting us those physical barriers. there's also a lot of talk on the shutdown that federal employees do not agree with this shutdown. i will tell you that's not true, and with that i would like to introduce art delqueto, the national president of the border control council and he would like to say a few words. >> i'm the national vice president of the border patrol council. i want everybody to take the time to understand what is going on. we are all affected by the shutdown. we have skin in the game. however, it comes down to border security are, and we are extremely grateful to president trump and we fully support what he is doing to take care of our nation's borders, to take care of the future of this united states. it has nothing to do with

political parties. you have all got to ask yourself this question. if i come to your home, do you want me to knock on the front door, or do you want me to climb through that window? we fully support the president and all his efforts to secure our nation's borders. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> hello, everyone. my name is hector garza. i'm the executive vice president of the national border patrol council. i want to talk about some of the criminals that border patrol agents apprehend on a daily basis, murderers, rapists, people who commit very serious crimes in this country. i.c.e. has been doing an amazing job of deporting a lot of these people back to the country. unfortunately, once we deport these people, these people will not stay in their country. these criminal aliens released from jail will come right back into the united states. however, we had a physical barrier, if we had a wall, we would be able to stop that. again, we want to thank

president trump for advocating for border patrol agents, and, again, we ask our congressmen to fund border security and fund the border wall. >> thank you. >> show this meeting was set up a long time ago. it just came at at very opportune time, and i thought we were all sitting in the oval office working on different plans and different ways of stopping the problems that we have in our country, and other countries have problems but nobody like ours. the economy makes it even more so. the economy is bringing people in because we're doing so well with the economy. unemployment is now 3.7% and that's among the lowest we've ever had, lowest in 50 years and amongst certain groups it's the lowest historically. i just appreciate them being here. let's go out and see the press. you can tell them about the importance of the wall. they basically said, and i think i can take the word basically out. without a wall you can not have border security. without a very strong form of

barrier, call it what you will, but without a wall you can't have border security it won't work. you see what's just been put out on social media where thousands of people are rushing the border. having a drone fly overhead, and i think nobody knows much more about technology, this type of technology certainly than i do, having drones and various other form of sensors, they are all fine, but they are not going to stop the problems that this country has. we've never had more people wanting to come to the united states, and that has to do with the economy, and it those do with a lot of other things. we're doing great as a country, but the better we do, the more people want to come in, so, folks, i just want to thank you very much. it's an honor to be with you, and i'm glad you came. i'm glad we came out here and the first time i've ever done this, the first time i've done it. i've done it for you, and i'm very proud of that because you've done a fantastic job and i want to thank you all. chris, thank you very much. thank you all very much.

appreciate if the. >> mr. president -- >> mr. president -- >> sarah, are you not taking any questions at all? >> all right. >> that was the first briefing room appearance of president donald trump, so significant for that factor. however, he -- he did not take questions. i want to discuss this with my panel. so we saw him, you called it, that he was come out, bill kristol. >> i give you credit. >> thank you. >> we saw him with members of this union, the national border patrol council which endorsed him during the campaign, so these are current and retired border patrol agents, right? >> right. >> these represent border patrol agents. it's not the border patrol, it's a union, just to be clear, and he has them behind him. but it's just pulling the spotlight back to the white house and to his point of view, but it's -- he didn't even take questions. >> and it doesn't real explain -- i think the democrats can make their point and they

presumably can with speaker pelosi, fine, we have a continuing resolution for the department of homeland security for a month, we will debate the border issue. meanwhile, we have six other agencies in the federal government that you are closing down and holding hostage that we're willing to pass bipartisan appropriations bills for those. i think it's a very hard argument for republican senators to resist as i said before. donald trump can resist it by not addressing it. it's here are the border patrol guys and we need a wall, thank you. >> to be clear, this is basically -- this is a stunt. this isn't a briefing. so we thought thereto was -- it was billed as a last-minute briefing. it was not a briefing. a briefing is questions. a briefing have more than just a political stunt which is what we just saw. >> it being held in the briefing room does not a briefing make there. should have been -- yeah. this was a -- this was a press availability, i guess, maybe, a photo-op, except there were words. i don't know. >> here's what it was. donald trump couldn't stand that nancy pelosi was the center of attention today. he can't stand the fact any

other human being could get his or her day in the spotlight so he had to butt in at 4:30 in the afternoon. it's pretty disgraceful, don't you think? new speaker of the house, a moving moment and he those have a ludicrous stunt with some union officials who endorsed him. >> it's exactly what it is. it's deflection and distraction. he can't stand it that there's democratic woodstock going on, you know, in the streets of washington and capitol hill, this entire day. there's democrats running around, you know, almost throwing glitter. they are ebullient, and, you know, he can't stand it. he doesn't want to hear about alexandra ocasio cortez. he doesn't want to hear about the first african-american from massachusetts or the first latina from texas or the fact there's 89 women swearing in as democrats to the new congress. it's driving him crazy so he needs -- he doesn't want to hear about the government shiftdown that he was going to take responsibility for. >> let's bring kaitlan collins

in because she was there in the briefing room for briefing, non-briefing. more of the president showing up which is certainly -- that hasn't occurred before, but katan, what was your impression of this stunt? >> well, it certainly wasn't a press briefing which is what the white house called it when they summoned the reporters up here so abruptly. there said this would be a press briefing with sarah sanders in the white house press briefing room and that's not what happened when they came out. sarah sanders came out, a slew of other white house aides here, including the white house social communications director and media director and all the border patrol members and they were meeting in the oval office talking about the wall. this is president trump's first time in the press briefing room. came up and made that remark several time it was his first time in there which would lead you to presume that the question would take questions as the president's other predecessors have done in the past. he spoke about the watch. invited them to come up and took

no questions from any reporters in the room on the government shutdown stretching into 13 days and sarah sanders, the press secretary, also walked out behind the president and they did not take any questions from reporters. now, this is something that is essentially unheard of. i'm not sure if the press secretary has ever come into the press briefing room before and not taken a single question from one reporter. yes, we've had short briefings. yes, they have been quick before and not very regular in their occurrences but typically they always take questions. that is not what happened here today, and the only thing that it can really remind you of the first time when sean spicer was press secretary and the day after the president's inauguration when they summoned reporters pretty ibankruptly. he came out here and shouted about the president's crowd size twag it w saying it was the biggest size ever and this was not a press briefing, brianna.

>> thank you, katan, very much. that is very much the point, symone, sews incongruous what happened, what you might see in the oval office where the president might be meeting with some folks and the press sin vited in. even then he doesn't take questions. why not do that somewhere else since that's what it is, it's a photo-op, it's a stunt. >> i'm not really sure. as a communications professional this upsets me. it just really upsets me. sarah huckabee sanders is the press secretary and it's her job to interact with the press and. white house has not had the best relationship with the d.c. political press, so why do you want to continue to poke the press and chide them? why call them -- she is not setting herself up for any more successes. she's not making any more friends and maybe a couple of

enemies. this is what i'll say about this though. i think that -- it seems like so long ago, but today a blue check was put on donald trump. that was a referendum on his and republicans closing argument in 2018. they did this already this, fearmongering, the thing about immigration, that these migrants and immigrants are rushing the bothered and we have to secure or border. they did this already in 2018 and they were rebuffed by the american people, and so for the president to come out today with carbon copies of mat uwhitaker standing behind him behind the press podium and whine about his wall on an historic day for democrats is on suffered and zs something that the american people told you they didn't want. this is not doing him or republicans any favor and i'm waiting to see when republicans in congress will stand up with him. >> he wanted enough attention on -- he knew that if they called the press in there, everyone would take it live. everyone would cover it. it reminds me actually of when he decided to say about obama's

birth certificate and at the end he said oh, yeah he what is born here and left. he got all this attention. >> the recent -- you asked the question why. it's obvious. because they then control the narrative. >> right. >> we've had an entire where we were going to talk about oversight and talk about investigations and potential impeachment, and the attorney general of new york and instead for 30 minutes we're talking about what donald trump wants to us talk about which is donald trump, his favorite subject in the world. >> let's talk about the false narrative here though, right? he said something off the top that it was interesting to hear where his mind was though it was not in fact land to be clear. he said he's never had so much support. i've never had so much support as i have in the last week over my stance for border security, control, the wall or the barrier. calls coming in, people writing in and tweeting. okay. if he is getting calls and tweets, that is not a measure of where the american people are. we know that, thank goodness, with the tweets we get all the

time, too. >> you know how we're not getting calls because the white house switchboard is closed because of the government shutdown. >> he has a cell phone. >> if you call right now you get a recording now i believe. >> if you look at a poll where the american people on the wall. would you favor or oppose building a wall along the entire are border with mexico? this was done last month. 57% oppose. this is not where public opinion is, jackie. >> and they also opposed shutting down the government for the border wall, but the president doesn't care because it's not about the nation. it's about his base because when you break down the numbers even a little bit more, there was an npr poll a couple weeks ago, republicans are the ones who don't want him to compromise on this. he's playing to the people he cares about, who he's always cared about. this is about politics. the wall is donald trump, donald trump is -- it's about him.

>> let's not talk about mentioned here. he's not mentioning these americans and these federal workers. 800,000 of them, and how many more people who rely on contract work with the government who are not getting paid, and a lot of these people are paycheck to paycheck. they need that check on january 11th and they are freaking out that they are not going to get it. they didn't mention it. >> look, honestly, it was rick santorum who said on this show yesterday, who said the president won't -- isn't moved by empathy. rick santorum sat here on the show and said donald trump doesn't care about the folks at home not getting their paychecks. donald trump doesn't care but, and you know what he sold a number of people in this country a bill of ghoods he said -- when he convinced people that he was the billionaire that was going to fight for the little guy. this is a physical embodiment. we're seeing it play out what donald trump real cares about and where he's willing to put his quote unquote political muscle at. i hope folks are paying attention. i hope the quote, unquote

forgotten man and woman who donald trump is talking about are watching and listening and he's letting you know where his bread is buttered t.ain't in the forgotten windmills of the midwest. >> stand by. we are going to talk about other things. who is going to emerge to take on the president in 2020 in the buzz around some. the controversy around others, and this race is barely gotten started. ♪ ♪i've been really tryin', baby ♪tryin' to hold back this feeling for so long♪ ♪and if you feel, like i feel baby then come on,♪ ♪oh come on let's get it on

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we're back now with our politics lead, and if you're looking for a consensus pick in the, room toly crowded field of the democratic 2020 hopefuls it's going to be a while. just today longtime california senator dianne feinstein gave a nod to joe biden, former democratic presidential candidate martin o'malley threw his support behind beto o'rourke and progressive favorite elizabeth warren is trying to generate buzz while banders ern sanders is trying to fend off controversy. i want to start with support for former vice president joe biden from democratic senator dianne feinstein keeping in mind the junior senator from california -- >> the junior senator, her colleague, is kamala harris works we believe will likely run. seems to be in that path and here's what he said. joe was chairman of judiciary when i came to this place. i watched him has have. i've seen him operate. i've seen him perform and he

brings a level of experience and seniority which i think is really important. do you think that seniority and experience are going to be the driving factors that democratic voters want to see this sickle? >> it's very early. it doesn't seem like that's what they are looking for. i mean, look how hard nancy please he to fight to become speaker of the house just, you know, a couple minutes ago, or at least leading up to it. it just doesn't seem -- it seems like the democrats i speak to are looking for something new, and people love joe biden, but joe biden can be problematic for some of his past stances and because he's a very known quantity within democratic circumstanceles. >> what do you think, symone? >> i think senator feinstein is well within her rights to throw her support and signal her support behind anyone she would like and so are so many other democratic members of congress and activists and on that i was will get engaged and involved in

this race. invoking his chairmanship of the judiciary committee during -- i think he was also -- he preside over the anita hill which i will call a debacle. >> that's one of the problematic things. >> and there are -- there's moving lips when it comes to that. i -- these aren't quotes, right. this is him on camera saying things in a hearing. >> i mean, look, you're going to have -- this is going to be a democratic primary where maybe 25 people put their name in the hat. out of those 25 people i think maybe 10 of those campaigns will be viable and go a long way. we need a robust primary. i think democratic voters are really looking for someone they can trust in what they are saying. i don't like donald trump, not a fan but the people who voted him trust what had he said even though i think he's a liar. voters are looking for somebody that believe is candidly delivering their message. >> as a republican who cannot stand trump, never supported him and never will, i am begging democrats to please give me somebody that i can vote for.

i'm red to vote for a potted plant, for a hologram. i'm not sure i'm ready to vote for elizabeth warren, and so, you know, i think, i hope that democrats think about, you know, themselves falling in lover and somebody that can get their juices flowing and their love tank filled but can also appeal to people like bill kristol and anna navarro who really don't want to vote for a hologram. we would rather vote for somebody who has a pulse and a brain. >> who is that person? >> i like the idea of investigate for a hologram. that could be an upgrade. >> when i came to washington, was at the education department, and i didn't really know congress very well. one democratic senator from one state was undercutting the democrat insenator from another state, and i can't what it was and i was asking the public affairs person and said aren't they supposed to work before? there's no enmity or rivalry as fierce as two senators in the same party from the same state. the degree of competition for the spotlight, for the senator.

>> she said oh, i love kamala. >> they have a good relationship. >> why would you on january 3rd, 2019, support joe biden if not to stick it a little bit to kamala harris. i kind of like that. that's kind of old-fashioned. that's old-fashioned washington politics. you got to kind of like that. >> senator feinstein faced a little bit of rebellion in the california convention. >> a big rebellion. >> a lot of people saying she's too old to be running and represent us and her argument was to win was seniority and experience and here she is. >> isn't age -- is it age or is it freshness. >> i will say bernie sanders is not that young, rp symone. >> he'sp 7 years old. >> joe biden has been around, so has bernie sanders, maybe more problematic for joe biden.

bernie sanders had some problematic votes. but they just want something that's sort of -- that inspires them. does the age matter, jackie? >> i think democratic voters want to fall in love and somebody who beats donald trump and whoever fits that mold the best is who is going to end up the nominee. it's just who that is right now. there's a lot to the pick from. >> bernie sanders was old, but he's authentic help. wasn't trying to pretend that he's going to get me a beer and thanking his wife for being in their kitchen. he's authentic. you can argue about his policies all you want. you can argue all you want about bernie sanders but the guy is authentic. >> what you see is what you get. >> all right, guys. thank you so much. president trump's problems are not just the new congress in washington and new york state. the new toirng called h-- new a general called him an illegitimate president. she's the first black woman elected to state office and as cnn's athena jones reports, she has some fighting words with the

president. >> i will work in a legal system where even the most powerful in the country cannot use a loophole to evade justice. >> new york's new attorney general has big plans. >> let that be a fair warning to all of those in high places who think that they are above the law. >> sworn in on tuesday. >> do solemnly swear. >> has made clear among her biggest targets will be president trump and his business practices. >> i will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president. >> after all, trump's company is headquartered in new york. and so was his 2016 campaign. >> what is is fueling my soul right now is trump and his abuses, abuses against immigrants, against women, against our environment. >> among many items that she will look into, trump's finances and his real estate holdings,

including any potential money laundering which james has said she believes there's evidence trump has engaged in. >> president trump was almost on the verge of prints and then all of a sudden he was flush with money. >> reporter: and with a view to the possible repercussions of special counsel robert mueller's probe into 2016 election meddling, james campaigned on passing a bill to change new york's double jeopardy lawed to allow her to pursue state charges against anyone the president were to grant a federal pardon. she plans to continue an ongoing probe into whether trump has violated the constitution's emoluments clause which says federal officials can not accept gifts from foreign powers without congressional approval, and james' office will continue the lawsuit brought but the previous ag against the president, the donald j. trump foundation, and three of his adult children. trump and trump foundation officials deny any wrongdoing. >> congratulations to our great history-making attorney general. >> reporter: it's shaping up to

be a long to-do list for james, one she is eager to take on. >> we must do our job to ensure that the man current lip occupying the oval office is held accountable to any and everything he has done. >> reporter: the president meanwhile is already previewing his argument against james, chocking it all up to politics, calling james an attorney general who open lip campaigned on a get trump agenda. now in addition -- anything to going after trump, james campaigned on promises to tackle wall street abuses, protect immigrant rights and fight the opioid epidemic and her rhetoric about trump that has raised questions in some quarters about whether she can be impartial. regardless of her previous statements, her defenders says she will make decisions based on what the evidence supports and where the investigations take her, if anywhere. brianna. >> the expectization there will be some drama ahead, another challenge for the president. >> yes, indeed. >> ahope thata jones, great

report. thank you so much. you can tweet the show at "the lead." . cnn continues right now. happening now. breaking news. pelosi takes control. there's a new reality here in washington, and for president trump as democrats take charge of the house and nancy pelosi returns as speaker, democrats are already flexing their muscles. how far will they go in investigating the president and his administration? oejt shutdown. after claiming that he'd owned the government shutdowns, the president now blames democrats for the nearly two-week closure. funding for his border spal at the heart of the dispute. will either side budge? charged with spying. an american arrested in moscow has now been charged with espionage. his lawyer says the charges run founded, but a