>> greg: it's a pimple. >> kimberly: i don't think so. >> juan: may be kimberly would squeeze it for you. >> ew! so disgusting. >> kimberly: i am bret baier in washington. two prominent lawmakers are vowing to cooperate with ethics investigations into their actions following recent sexual misconduct claims. james rosen reports one of the lawmakers is facing reporters for the first time while another received an unusual defense from america's most powerful female officeholder. >> i am going to try to learn from my mistakes. >> and his first news conference since four women accused him of sexual misconduct, democratic senator al franken of minnesota said he's tremendously sorry. pledged to cooperate with an

ethics committee probe and vowed to work to regain voters trust. but he declined to specify where he disputes his accusers' accounts and couldn't guarantee additional claims won't surface. >> i take a lot of pictures, thousands of pictures. tens of thousands of people. those are instances i do not remember. >> one colleague had demanded more with republican senator marco rubio florida saying the things he's already admitted to i find to be outrageous and offensive, and i do think on that alone he should consider resigning. house minority leader nancy pelosi, america's top elected woman, surprised many with her defensive democratic colleague john con of michigan whom she called an icon. >> do you believe john conyers? >> they haven't really come forward. >> you don't know if you believe the accusations? >> that is for the ethics committee to review. >> he stepped down from his

drinking committee on sunday. laura mcgann tweeted "nancy pelosi went on national tv and ran through a list of excuses for john conyers that are the very reasons women are afraid to report sexual harassment in the first place." matt schlapp wrote "pelosi is a survivor knows she can't lose support of the black hawk associates rental with conyers. it's always about power." conyers has denied all charges between where women have come forward, former staffers. melanie sloan a alleges conyers came to a conference in his underwear. >> he pulled me out of a meeting and started screaming at me in the hallway berating me for not wearing stockings on a 100-degree washington day. >> republican congressman joe barton of texas having already apologized for a selfie he took for a woman with whom he had an affair has now confirmed to

"the washington post" the authenticity of a recording the woman made of a phone call in which the congressman threatened to unleash the capitol police on her. >> bret: thank you. president trump will not campaign for alabama republican senate candidate roy moore. moore continues his fight against the g.o.p. establishment over his refusal to leave the race. as a special election looms two weeks away. jonathan serrie has the latest from alabama. >> state campaigns, 40 years of honorable service. >> with no signs of quitting, roy moore's senate campaign released an ad fighting back against allegations of sexual impropriety. >> weeks before the election, false allegations. the republican establishment. >> charles barkley in alabama said he is disturbed by moore's association with steve bannon.

>> we've got a lot of black people in the state. to run a campaign. whose advocate is a white nationalist, that should disqualify roy moore before this women stuff came up. you can't have a guy running for political office was a white separatist. >> doug jones need to mobilize african-american voters who make up about a quarter of alabama's electorate. but a "washington post" article suggests black voters may not be energized by the senate race. on the sunday morning talk shows, three additional g.o.p. senators dropped their support for moore. >> i think it would be best if he stepped aside. >> the best thing he could do for the countries move on. >> it's going to be a distraction for us. >> president trump has no plans to campaign for moore. >> his schedule doesn't permit him to do anything between now and election day. the president wants people who support his agenda, and certainly wants people looking

to make america better. >> the president has yet to offer moore a full throated endorsement. instead, attacking jones, tweeting: "the last thing we need in alabama and the u.s. senate is a schumer/pelosi puppet." "liberal jones would be bad." >> the jones campaign incentives in the email accusing moore of hiding. moore is scheduled to speak in the next hour at a small town in alabama. his first public appearance since the november 16 news conference that his campaign abruptly ended when reporters began asking questions about the allegations against moore. >> bret: jonathan serrie live in alabama. thank you. let's talk about the sexual harassment allegations kendall on capitol hill, in alabama. how all sides are dealing with charges of hypocrisy.

senior political analyst brit hume joins us. good evening. >> hi, bret. >> bret: your thoughts. the first piece, james rosen and nancy pelosi's defense of john conyers. >> i think nancy pelosi's defense of john conyers was almost incoherent. it was unexpected, as james noted. this is a break really for roy moore in the sensitive john conyers was been noted the most senior democrat in the house and his nancy pelosi would have it,, and icon to democrats, is still in place when roy moore, if he's elected, shows up. seems to be it will be pretty hard for the senate to throw him out of office, to expel him, with conyers still sitting there and al franken. his charges may be lesser but it appears he was a serial groper.

those guys are a bit of a shield for moore, assuming he gets elected. remarkable. >> bret: let's talk about the franken appearance. a lot of reporters noted, never got to agree with the characterizations of the actual allegations. >> it's a very peculiar thing to be apologizing and talking about mistakes without ever quite acknowledging the nature of the mistakes. i mean, what he's been accused of doing is pretty straightforward. he was a fanny pincher and a groper and it happened many times and he was in the habit of doing this. he talks about oh, i take a lot of pictures. i guess in one interview over the weekend he talked about how, you know, a lot of things can happen in crowded situations, he said. he won't ever really quite come out and say that he did these

things with that he remembers doing them. it's an interesting situation. he comes out, answers questions up to a point. and apologizes without ever quite admitting the wrongdoing. it's an unusual approach. i don't recall seeing it before. >> bret: what about the white house saying that the president is not going to campaign for roy moore. he's going to essentially say i need that vote for tax reform and other things. not really had down there and campaign. >> he is saying he's not going to campaign for them in alabama but he is out there attacking doug jones regularly and making it clear he doesn't want doug jones and the senate. that can only mean one thing. don't vote for doug jones. vote for the other guy. so he is supporting roy moore one way or another. even though he may not be giving him a full throated endorsements are going to alabama to campaign for him.

trump voters in alabama will be under no illusion about who trump would prefer to see, clearly roy moore. he's kind of campaign for him from a distance but unmistakably. >> bret: brit, as always, thank you. >> thank you. >> bret: who was really running the government agency that regulates the u.s. financial industry? it depends on whom you believe tonight. the president, justice department say it is budget director mick mulvaney who has been no fan of that agency since its inception. democrats say deputy director leandre english, appointed by the outgoing director is now the acting chief until a successor is confirmed by the u.s. senate. kristin fisher is at the white house tonight to sort it out for us. good evening. >> these two dueling directors have been battling for control all day long using tweets, emails, lawsuits, even doughnuts as weapons. it's a power struggle that would make an episode of the apprentice seem tame.

white house budget director mick mulvaney named acting director of the consumer financial protection bureau on friday by president trump. versus leandre english, named to the same post by the outgoing obama-era director. monday morning, no one knew who was really in charge of the nation's top consumer financial watchdog agency. mulvaney's team fired off a shot of this picture of him sitting in the director's office, hard at work. he later said "my name is on the door." minutes later, english sent an email to staff saying she was in charge. that prompted mulvaney to send out his own email instructing staffers to please disregard any instructions received from ms. english and her presumed capacity as acting director. adding "please stop by the fourth floor to say hello and grab a doughnut." an empty doughnut box, an olive

branch to an agency mulvaney voted to get rid of and called a joke. >> do you believe cfpb is a sad, sick joke? >> yes i do. >> mulvaney said he would get rid of it if he could even as he tries to lead it. >> other agencies can probably do this job just as if not more effectively. >> english is suing the trump administration but today the white house press secretary said the takeover is already complete. >> director mulvaney has taken charge of the agency. he has a full cooperation of the staff. >> the cfpb was established by barack obama as part of the dodd-frank reforms in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. >> the consumer financial protection bureau will be a watchdog for the american consumer. >> five his side, senator elizabeth warren who has become one of the cfpb's biggest champions. this afternoon she met with english on capitol hill. she was clearly on the

president's radar at an event to honor native american war heroes. >> we have a representative in congress who they say with very long time ago. they call her pocahontas. >> war and called it offensive. >> is deeply unfortunate that the president of the united states cannot even make it through a ceremony honoring these heroes without having to throw out a racial slur. >> to which the white house press secretary said. >> i think most people find offensive is senator warren lying about her heritage to advance her career. >> all of it happening on a day when tax reform should be front and center after meeting with members of the senate finance committee, president trump remain confident that he would be able to keep his promise to the american people and give them tax cuts. >> i think the tax bill is going very well. we had a meeting on it today. it's going to be a tremendous tax cut, the biggest in the history of our country. >> moments ago, a district court

judge gave government attorneys a deadline, gave them until tonight to file their opposition to english's lawsuit. as for her future at the cfpb, tonight those government attorneys would give no assurances. >> bret: it's a lot for the monday after thanksgiving. kristin fisher, thank you. president trump says there will be some changes coming in the republican tax form bill. congress returns for its final session of the year with that item number one on the agenda. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel brings us up to date from capitol hill. >> key republican members of the senate finance committee started a critical week for tax reform at the white house. >> growing momentum and i'm confident we are going to get it done soon, get it to the president's desk. >> president trump sounded upbeat. >> it's going to benefit everybody, mostly people looking for jobs more than anything else because we are giving great incentives. >> positive development from

rand paul. "i fought for and received major changes for the better and i plan to vote for this bill as it stands right now." senator paul encouraged his republican colleagues to get on board. some senators to watch is g.o.p. leaders work on getting 50 yes votes. susan collins, bob corker, steve daines, jeff flake, ron johnson, and john mccain. republicans say they are is pressure to deliver. >> i can't imagine we are not going to support this. as a senate, we've got to get it done. >> we feel all senators are trying to get es on the republican side. we are disappointed we don't have democrat members looking to provide tax relief for middle income families incorporate relief so we can bring jobs back to the country. >> analysis from the congressional budget office as the senate plan would lead to an "increasing the deficit of 1,004 and 14 billion over the next ten years." the senate budget allowed for $1.5 trillion so there's some wiggle room for modifications.

the cbo says the senate plan would make lower income americans were soft mainly because they would get less government assistance for health care. >> tax breaks for the wealthiest people in america and the biggest corporations. meanwhile the tax breaks for working families, half of them will see a tax increase, half a tax break. tax breaks for the wealthiest people are permanent. >> orrin hatch couldn't contain his irritation. >> i hope they will get off their duffs and start working rather than floating in a block -- voting in a block. >> government funding package do a week from friday and democrats are signaling they are prepared to play hardball. chuck schumer said today he wants to address children brought to this country legally, children's health insurance, cost-sharing for obamacare premiums. additional hurricane funding and a debt ceiling height or else. >> bret: the clock is ticking. mike emanuel, thanks.

james lankford is releasing his annual look at government spending. it includes almost $474 billion in what the senator and many of his colleagues consider wasteful and inefficient use of your tax dollars. highlighted in this year's report, the irs rehiring more than a hundred people previously terminated due to conduct or performance issues. in the pentagon unable to track down more than a billion dollars in equipment purchased for iraqi security forces. $7 billion, that's how much you and your fellow americans are expected to spend just today shopping online. it's cyber monday. we will take you to an amazon fulfillment center. that sounds promising. when we come back. yup. getting kinda' close to my ride. wow... now, that's how you make a first impression. they're going to love you... that's ford, america's best-selling brand.

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♪ >> bret: stocks mixed. dow gained 23. s&p 500 fell 1. nasdaq dropped 11. if you are like most americans, you probably spent some time today buying holiday gifts online. experts predict $7 billion in e-commerce sales on the cyber monday. deirdre bolden of fox business network has details from an amazon fulfillment center in new jersey. >> cyber monday. >> consumers jump-start their holiday shopping. places like this amazon fulfillment center in new jersey are meeting the demands. according to researchers, online sales could top $7 billion just today alone. a figure that's up more than 16.9% from last year. the way people are shopping also changing with purchases made from smartphones and tablets expected to top desktop

computers this year. it's not just electronics that are seeing price lashes this cyber monday. toys are excited to have the highest discounts. many savvy consumers are using the internet not only to shop but to research their purchases this year. >> you got price discovery so people are getting the best bargains online, in-store, or a combination of the two. shoppers are motivated. >> while the spending growth in online shopping has impacted brick-and-mortar retailer, causing layoffs and store closings, traditional retail stores are seeing customers stopping in to make the most of their purchases. >> sometimes there is nothing like feeling the fabric of the sweater you are thinking of buying. >> either way, online or standing in line, people are pulling out their wallets. predicting sales in the u.s. will surpass $8 trillion for the 2017 holiday season. >> you have people making more money, more over time, more spending.

retail, amazon and the rest of what's survives online, will do well in 2018. >> looks like it's shaping up to be another record year. bret, back to you. >> bret: thank you. five u.s. senators want uber to tell them when it discovered a massive data breach and what he did to respond. the ridesharing company disk disclosed that hack last week. the data stolen includes names, email addresses and mobile phone numbers of 57 million riders as well as driver's license numbers of 600,000 drivers. uber says it paid the hackers $100,000 to destroy the pilfered data. says there's no evidence the information was misused. a drone operator has been arrested for flying his aircraft over two nfl stadium sunday. police say the suspect dropped anti-media leaflets over levi stadium where the san francisco 49ers were playing the seattle seahawks. and the oakland alameda coliseum where the readers hosted the

denver broncos. authorities say the pilot broke laws dealing with flying drones near stadiums and airports. they dangers for pilots who fly military aircraft seemed to be growing at a frightening pace. tonight national security correspondent jennifer griffin continues to reporting on what could be a safety crisis in military aviation. >> the navy has identified the pilot and two american sailors lost at sea when their seat to a cargo plane crashed hundreds of miles off the coast of japan. while flying toward the uss ronald reagan. lieutenant stephen combs from florida graduated from the university of colorado in 2011. and an airman from louisiana who have been in the navy for three years. an apprentice graduated from high school in florida last spring. >> it has consequences. >> the number of troops killed in plane crashes has spiked at

an alarming rate. those skilled in noncombat plane crashes this year alone has more than doubled by 130%, compared to the time last year. the number of noncombat jet and helicopter crashes are up 38%. >> we are concerned about it. we have to look internally at ourselves with the critical lens to see where we need to get better terms of of handling risk and getting better at being safe. >> the sea to greyhound has been in service since the late 1960s. right now only nine out of the navy is 33 comply. the investigation is focusing on the possibility of an extremely rare dual engine failure. it's the deadliest crash for the u.s. military since an army black hawk helicopter went down off the coast of kauai in august. in the air force training jet with parts from the 1960s crashed in texas we could go, killing the pilot and injuring another. a mechanical failure is

suspected. over the summer, a marine corps transport plane crash in the mississippi delta killing all 16 on board. less than a month later, a marine fee 22 osprey crashed off australia, killing three marines. congress has called for a $26 billion increase in defense spending to rebuild the military and to fix these airplanes. >> bret: jennifer griffin of the pentagon. thank you. up next, why the fbi did not notify american officials that russians were trying to hack into their personal email accounts. first, what some of our fox affiliates around the country are covering. box 13 in tampa. residents of lakeland are told to stay indoors following a train derailment involving hazardous materials. it happened earlier today. nine cars derailed, four contained molten sulfur. fox 7 in austin, texas, reporting on the shortage of christmas trees there. it is said to be hitting the

entire country actually. the reason, a lack of planting during the recession when many farmers were forced out of business. since it takes 10 to 15 years, though shortage is just beginning to be felt. this is a live look at chicago from our affiliate fox 32. one of the big stories there tonight, seven men were killed and at least 36 other people wounded in thanksgiving weekend shootings. those numbers are down from last year when 68 were shot and eight died in chicago. that's tonight's live look outside the beltway from "special report." we'll be right back. ♪go your own way copd tries to say, "go this way." i say, "i'll go my own way" with anoro. ♪go your own way once-daily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators, that work together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night.

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and i know that we havethe phone accident forgiveness.nt, so the incredibly minor accident that i had tonight- four weeks without the car. okay, yup. good night. with accident forgiveness your rates won't go up just because of an accident. switching to allstate is worth it. ♪ >> bret: the fbi apparently knew about russian efforts to break into the personal email accounts of american government officials. but did not notify those people targeted. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is here to tell us.

>> leading analyst tells fox news warnings went to the fbi and u.s. intelligence community as early as 2015 the 2300 government officials and their spouses were targeted by cyber espionage group with russian ties. analysts believe the attack coming a year before the u.s. election helped lay the groundwork for russian interference during the 2016 campaign. the breach of yahoo and gmail accounts was used to take over victims mobile phones and also hijacked their contacts. former intelligence official says he's been singled out by chinese and russian hackers. >> my spam started to get really creepy with people targeting me by name and people targeting me and my employees. it got so creepy i decided i needed to notify the fbi. i believe it's very unusual that the fbi nowadays notifies people, although it's clearly their responsibility to do. they are just overwhelmed. >> the faa responded to allegations first reported by the associated press that it failed to notify government

officials given the high volume of the press, the spokeswoman said that the fbi doesn't account to tell individuals and organizations to guard against persistent cyber criminals. we are working to confirm that the lawyer for president transformer national security visor met with special counsel's money. robert mueller's office. flynn's legal team is no longer sharing information with the president's lawyers and others. that could indicate he's close to cooperating or cutting a deal. a source close to the president's legal team says flynn's greatest exposure is off work for and this doesn't touch the president or russia. >> bret: thank you. israel's military is deploying its iron domed rocket defense system aboard a ship for the first time. the announcement comes after the military says they successfully tested the system and an exercise where projectile simulating existing threats in the region were intercepted. land-based iron dome rockets have intercepted hundreds of projectiles by hamas and other palestinian groups since

2014. to the political turmoil in much of europe. senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot in london takes a look at growing political uncertainty all over the continent. >> many corners of europe are feeling a bit unsettled these days. the continent's biggest players, germany, without a government after failing to make a postelection coalition deal with two smaller parties. angela merkel says she will try to form a pact with the biggest center left grouping. >> translator: the talks will be based on the government program that we are also aware of the fact that compromises are part of negotiations. >> it could mean merkel might have to compromise her hard line towards immigration. the influx of immigrants in 2015 is unpopular there. in ireland, borders of the basis of another euro crisis. how to handle the crossing between northern ireland and ireland once the u.k. exits the european union. >> we want to ensure movement of

people and trade across that border can carry on as now and that we don't create any new barriers to trade or movement of people. >> complicating the discussions, instability and the irish government that might force a snap election and a challenge to the u.k. government of prime minister may by hard-line brexit advocates. the plan severing of the e.u. ties has already resulted in the loss of some 1,000 jobs. finally, italy is coping with another threat. crucial elections next year, it's calling on social media firms to police against possible russian meddling in the campaign. observers note moscow's moves are in part due to strong e.u. sanctions against russia for its intervention in ukraine. >> the russians are doing their best to try to undermine support for sanctions. >> e.u. expert charles grandis has a strong european economy

should help overcome these challenges. good news for the u.s. >> bret: up next, congress gets back to work with the clock ticking on tax reform and a possible government shutdown. beyond our borders. pope francis met with the military chief of burma today. they reportedly talked about the crisis over burma's crackdown on rohingya muslim's. more than 600,000 of them have fled to bangladesh amid with the government has called a clearance operation but others have termed ethnic cleansing. indonesian authorities have ordered 100,000 people to flee from an erupting volcano on bal bali. video shows a mud flow moving down the volcano slopes. the evacuation order affects 22 villages. the airport closed because of ash in the air space. now it's official. prince harry will marry american

actress meghan markle in the spring. the two made a brief appearance today before photographers at kensington palace. palace officials say they became engaged in london earlier this month. congratulations. some of the other stories beyond our borders tonight. we'll be right back. been- ohhh. ooh ohh here we go, here we go. you got cut off there, what were you saying? oooo. oh no no. maybe that geico has been proudly serving the military for over 75 years? is that what you wanted to say? mhmmm. i have to say, you seemed a lot chattier on tv. geico. proudly serving the military for over 75 years. you ok back there, buddy?

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>> bret: you see the senate minority leader on what he thinks the choice for white house budget director mick mulvaney now, according to the white house, the acting director of the consumer financial protection bureau. the lady on the left side of the screen, leandra english, start of the day thinking she was still the director, appointed by the outgoing director. she was the deputy. mulvaney came in, essentially delivering doughnuts, saying this is my job and i'm going to that the desk. later held a news conference saying i'm the guy. >> sent out an email this morning purporting to be the active director. you disagree with that? i want to make it clear to folks working here. >> the past practices under the previous director and the previous administration were used more to advance political ambitions and not about

protecting american consumers which is what that's supposed to be. our goal is to make sure we get back to that. >> bret: what about this? we will talk about tax form. let's bring in the panel. jonathan swan, a.b. stoddard, associate editor at real clear politics, host of "no labels radio" on sirius xm. mollie hemingway, senior editor at "the federalist." this was quite the thing this morning, jonathan. seems like the courts are getting involved and mulvaney probably is going to continue as is. >> looks like he will prevail because you have the department of justice issuing an opinion saying he is legally in that role, annuals have the council inside the bureau supporting that decision. he looks to be on legally solid ground but i think this is, it reveals how toxic the city has become. this is the most meaningless dispute. this is a role that's interim. the president is going to replace the person and we are already in a lawsuit.

lawsuits flying after 48 hours. it's quite incredible the way this played out. >> bret: to senator schumer's point, mick mulvaney has not been somebody who says the cfpb is a great place. he called it a sad joke and there's a sense that part of that reason is to turn the whole thing around, to stop what it's doing. >> i would disagree but it's meaningless. i think it's a very important bureau. might've had good intentions. in practice it's been almost without restraint and what it can go after and the penalties that can be levied against groups it decides needs to be levied against. republicans have long claimed this beer is corrupt and an accountable and unconstitutional. this response we are seeing from that bureaucracy and democrats on the hill seems to be saying that's how we wanted and that's how he designed it. in addition to the office of legal counsel and the department of justice and the other legal opinions, there are some

previous precedents showing the president does, as we know from the constitution, shows the president has the right to determine who should oversee the agency. >> bret: a.b., there were questions about the constitutionality to begin with, whether the agency was set up in a way that was -- adhered to the constitution. >> it's sort of unaccountable and without oversight. it is, this is really the complaint of republicans and critics of the agency that it's unlike any other body. this is a force that needs clear lines drawn, clear boundaries, definitions. jonathan is right to the extent that it's a needless drama because ultimately president trump will get exactly who he wants in the position. it was just going to be an acting job anyway. in that regard, it's kind of a meaningless chaos with doughnuts and a lot of excitement and a court ruling.

>> the ideological fight is super important. the actual flight over the substance. the interim role, i was putting on how crazy it is, how this interim role with the foregone conclusion, trump gets his guy and you have lawsuits flying is the first -- >> every month you can keep it in disarray is a win. the stunt might backfire because republicans have been wanting to have an avenue to go after this agency and kind of rain it in. it's not currently funded by congress but by the federal reserve. they should think about what they can do. get the funding under control. maybe eliminated altogether. stay on the previous head of the agency was elizabeth warren who went on to become a senator in massachusetts.

her name was used today. the name that president trump calls her, during an event with native americans. >> you were here long before any of us were here, although we have a representative in congress who they say was here a long time ago. they call her pocahontas. >> it's deeply unfortunate that the president of the united states can not even make it through a ceremony honoring these heroes without having to throw out a racial slur. >> i think what most people find offensive is senator warren lying about her heritage to advance her career. >> bret: the navajo nation released a statement saying "in this day and age, all tribal nations are still battling prejudices. it's an unfortunate historical legacy. we are proud people. taking care of this land before

there was a united states of america and we will continue to fight." going on to say they didn't want to get in the middle of the political back and forth between and president trump. this got a lot of coverage toda today. obviously the president knew that was going to happen. >> yeah, he can't help himself. obviously i'm not going to add to the commentary that there's been a lot of hankering over this. one of his great pleasures in life is branding people and this is probably one of his proudest, in his mind, i'm not saying it should be, but in his mind, one of his proudest nicknames right up there with lying ted. >> has it been explained -- she claimed she had native american heritage she didn't have. she's never given a good answer for how she came to be doing this falsely.

>> bret: at that event and in front of the portrait of andrew jackson. >> maybe not great. >> bret: i want to turn to taxes, a.b. this is a montage. >> we are going to be bring them back into this country probably in excess of $4 trillion. which will immediately be put to work in this country. i think the tax bill is doing very well and i think the republicans are going to be very proud of it. >> we don't want to ignore our democrat friends. i just hope they will get authored offs and start working rather than just voting and block against everything. >> it's going to be tax relief for hardworking middle income and lower income families. that's definite. >> the good news is we are making progress. >> bret: continued this thing from the same sheet of music.

there are ripples in the water. >> nobody's going to be happy until they have john mccain with a basically have written off, senator johnson, senator moran, corker, collins, johnson. all these people. flake, all these people on board. there are seven or eight outstanding go to a question. that's not going to get you. >> bret: in different stages of maybe. >> right, until there is clarity, nobody should be happy. senator hatch also said later on after trying to blame this on democrats who have been shut out from the start, this is really, really going to be tough. it is because they just don't have the votes. the other thing is they are challenging themselves to another very difficult sort of corner. witches do not ultimately have a conference with the house. basically they want to pass by the end of the week so they can send back to the house and have the house okay. they can't handle a conference committee. there are so many provisions the

senate has that the house won't accept. it's not that we will get a bill, the question is will there be a tax reform bill. >> i did a huge run of calls. tomorrow there's a budget vote which is kind of a proxy for this. they will be watching corker and johnson. they are not there yet, and they are worried. it's a fact. they don't have the votes. whether they will or not, i still lean in the yes category because a lot of people want to get the yes. the fact is they don't have the votes. >> bret: it's all about counting. next up, democrats in a tough spot over sexual harassment. the president not campaigning in alabama for roy moore. that's next. ♪shostakovich playing ♪

from our family to yours... may all your wishes come true this holiday season.

♪ >> i had a different recollection. my recollection of that kiss is different from hers. >> i recall that differently. i have a different recollection of that than she does. i do not remember, again, i take pictures with thousands of people. i don't remember these particular photos. i have a different recollection. those are instances that i do not remember. >> bret: senator al franken, a compilation of part of the apology over the past two days. these groping allegations. >> senator franken i think believes if he distinguishes himself from these other people who been accused by saying i am sort of owning it.

i'm really sorry. i expressed remorse. i want to re-earn the trust of the voters, that he can get beyond it. he didn't completely own it. he said things a few days ago about hugging. when you are taking these photos with women at the state fair, you are not hugging them. you are squeezing their buttock buttocks. he really tried to fudge it. he is trying to warm out of it. the thing about the threshold for what leads to expulsion from the senate for behavior that happen before you where they are not part of your service there becomes murky because republicans are not asking for al franken -- except for some criticism from marco rubio, for him to step down. they are not going to expel roy moore if he wins that senate seat. >> bret: nancy pelosi defending her old colleague john conyers. >> do you believe john conyers -- >> i don't know who they are. do you?

they haven't really come forward. i believe he understands what's at stake here he will do the right thing. >> bret: i heard a lot of people reacting to that interview. >> i saw people tweeting about it. i watch the whole interview. it's as bad as i could have imagined it. she brought up his pro woman voting record as a defense for him. this is a guy who's made a confidential payout for sexual harassment allegations. this is a party that's built their entire argument on "believe the accusers." zero tolerance. then she does exactly what she accuses the president of doing. >> bret: "new york times" on the trump access hollywood tape from saturday. "something deeper has been consuming mr. trump. "he suggested to a senator earlier this year that it was

not authentic. the tape, nobody has spoken out. we can see the tape is real. he said it. >> he did something he rarely does which is said he regretted it and he was sorry for his remarks that he sent them. i am curious about these anonymously sorest leaks about the taping. it's hard to judge them because we don't know what senator. we don't know who's saying what. i don't think journalists have shown themselves to be very good recorders or interpreters of donald trump this year. it would be nice to have some stuff on the records we can evaluate it better. >> bret: okay, we will leave it there. when we come back, decking the halls at the white house. (screaming) or, you could just trust duracell.

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is the season to start decking the halls at the white house. the first lady welcome some help today. >> bret: more than 150 volunteers from 29 states spent 1600 hours over the weekend while the trumps were a way of putting up decorations at the white house. first lady melania trump has opted for a more traditional decor in her family's first christmas. decorations include 71 breeds, 53 christmas trees, 18,000 lights, 12,000 ornaments, 3100 yards of ribbon, and 1,000 feet of garland. and a picture of -- there you go. and a giant gingerbread white house. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight, that is this special report, fair, balanced and unafraid. "the story" hosted by my colleague martha maccallum starts right now. it's feelingly christmas already. >> martha: here too in

new york. "the story" starts now. it was a bad day for elizabeth warren as president trump sent his own budget director to take over the agency that she created. an agency he claims did a lousy job of protecting consumers, and became an unaccountable arm of the liberal agenda. warren, not happy. >> they are in their punching every day and they are in their everyday making sure that their republican colleagues in the united states senate and the house of representatives are trying to shut down the consumer agency. >> martha: and mick mulvaney, who want called her consumer protection agency a sad, sick joke, had this to say as he took over the reins. >> what did he tell you about what he wants from you? >> he wants me to fix it, wants me to get back to the point where it can protect