House Passes Historically Unpopular Republican Tax Bill
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Has there ever been a piece of major legislation passed by the Congress with less public support? Our new poll numbers have stark numbers about the tax bill. THE LEAD starts right now. Just moments ago, the House passed a historic tax overall which would change how every American and corporation pays Uncle Sam, and President Trump is halfway to his first major legislative win. But our new poll shows most Americans are not sure this is going do be a win for them. Then, President Trump lashing out, slamming new reporting that he discussed pulling the plug on the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Did the president almost undo what would end up one of his biggest accomplishments? Plus, more than double the speed limit. That's how fast officials say the Amtrak train was traveling when it jumped the rails and careened on to a highway below, killing at least three people. Did the mayor of a nearby town predict something like this would happen?</s>ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>TAPPER: Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to begin with the breaking news. After passing the House of Representatives by a vote of 227-203, the Republican tax bill now heads to the U.S. Senate and could be on President Trump's Resolute Desk by tomorrow, the first major legislative success for the Republican Party this year. The legislation proposes sweeping changes to the nation's tax code, significant cuts to the corporate tax rate, and if it passes the Senate as well, according to one analysis, this will be the most deeply unpopular piece of legislation to do so in 30 years. House Republicans this afternoon celebrated the hard-fought victory. Two big questions loom, of course. Will this bill indeed spur economic growth? And, second, will, as House Speaker Paul Ryan predicted, will voters change their minds about this legislation once it begins to take effect? A new CNN poll finds that 55 percent of the American people oppose the tax overhaul, with only 33 percent supporting it. And 66 percent of those polled say the bill will benefit the wealthy more than it will the middle class. That is a view supported by two nonpartisan government analyses of the legislation. We have a team of experts ready to break down all parts of this story, but let's begin with Jeff Zeleny. He's at the White House for us. Jeff, the CNN poll today also found President Trump's approval rating hitting a new low in a CNN poll. Possibly passing this tax bill could help him get that number up.</s>JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Jake, that certainly is the hope of the White House, that any big accomplishment would improve his ratings, but that is an open question here. Of course, his approval is based on the full picture of his presidency. But one question here today at the White House, will this bill benefit the president more or the middle class?</s>ZELENY (voice-over): President Trump on the verge of tasting victory on a $1.5 trillion tax plan.</s>REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Today, we are giving the people of this country their money back. This is their money, after all.</s>UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: You're lying! You're lying!</s>ZELENY: Despite protests in the House chamber, Republicans finally flexed their muscles and relied on their congressional majority to help deliver what will be the GOP's biggest legislative victory of the year. Yet the tax bill scheduled for a final vote tonight in the Senate remains deeply unpopular. Opposition to the plan has grown 10 points over the last month. A new CNN poll today shows 55 percent of Americans oppose it, while 33 percent support it. At the White House today, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders defended the plan, insisting the president wouldn't unduly benefit.</s>SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: In some ways, particularly on the personal side, the president will likely take a big hit, but on the business side he could benefit. But the biggest focus for this White House has to make sure all Americans are better off today after this tax package passes than they were beforehand.</s>ZELENY: The president has been wearing his salesman hat for months, pushing the biggest tax overhaul in three decades, but the public remains deeply skeptical.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We want to give you, the American people, a giant tax cut for Christmas. And when I say giant, I mean giant.</s>ZELENY: So far, that pitch has not worked with a majority of the American people. The new CNN poll finds two-thirds of Americans believe the bill will do more to benefit the wealthy, while 27 percent say it will benefit the middle class. And nearly four in 10 believe their family will be worse off because of the Republican tax plan. In lockstep today, House Democrats voted against the bill blasted by their leader, Nancy Pelosi.</s>REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: This GOP tax scam is simply theft, monumental, brazen theft from the American middle class and from every person who aspires to reach it.</s>ZELENY: The fight over tax cuts and tax reform will now become a soundtrack of the 2018 midterm campaign, with both parties racing to define the debate. Despite a soaring stock market and booming economy, the new CNN poll shows the president's approval rating at 35 percent, the lowest for any modern president at the end of his first year in office. All this as the president pushed back today on a story first reported the by "The Washington Post" that he considered rescinding his nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court in February, fuming over Gorsuch privately criticizing Trump's attack on the judiciary as "demoralizing." Today, the president tweeted: "I never even wavered and am very proud of him and the job he is doing."</s>ZELENY: So, again the question of how much the president would benefit here, Sarah Sanders said he would not benefit on the personal side, but, Jake, that is impossible to answer or fact-check. This is the reason why. The president, of course, still has not released his tax returns, so we cannot go through them and see if he will benefit or how much he would benefit on the personal side. And Sarah Sanders did say again today he has no plans of releasing those tax returns, saying again they're under audit. Of course, every other president and presidential candidate has done so. Jake, we're also getting word the White House is making plans for some type of ceremony here tomorrow at the White House around noontime or so either to sign that bill or a rallying ceremony of some kind to crow about their first legislative accomplishment of the year.</s>TAPPER: All right, Jeff Zeleny at the White House for us, thank you so much. Let's discuss with two presidential experts. Joining us, Maggie Haberman and Doug Brinkley. First, Doug, let me start with you. Can you recall a less popular major piece of legislation headed to victory?</s>DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: No. And the fact of the matter is, it's being jammed in and done right before Christmas, so there is something desperate about it. It's happening when people are calling Trump's first year a slow-motion disaster. Everybody's saying there was no legislative victories all year long, and here at the last minute they're getting this pushed through. And, as Jeff just mentioned, the fact that, you know, Donald Trump isn't transparent. He isn't showing people his taxes. It seems to be a sweetheart deal for rich people. The one thing Obama was able to do in his first year was the Affordable Care Act, and that was a big blowback because it was all Democrats that pushed it, Jake, as you know. He's got the problem, Trump, now with this that it's just a Republican bill. There is no unity or bipartisanness about it. He owns the economy now.</s>TAPPER: Maggie, earlier today, the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, was asked why, after she had listed a whole bunch of accomplishments of President Trump, including this tax bill which should soon hit his desk, why the president's approval ratings were so low if he was doing such a great job. Take a listen to what Sarah Sanders said in response.</s>HUCKABEE SANDERS: Ninety percent of the coverage is negative about this president, when, as you just said, I listed off a number of things that have been pretty historic in nature in this first year. And if people were focused a lot more on those things in the media, I think that his numbers would be a lot higher.</s>TAPPER: What do you think, Maggie?</s>MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, I think this is a version of what we hear from the president himself through his Twitter feed over the course of the year. This is what he viewed the job as being when he became president -- remember, he has no previous electoral experience of his own -- was that he would do something, make a deal or sign legislation or have some accomplishment and then he'd get praise, because he believes that that is what the media is supposed to do. The concept of what the White House press corps does is pretty foreign to this president. He has not really tried to understand what the role is of the press here. I understand this is how they view it, but the reality is that this president's rhetoric is extremely divisive. He has done all kinds of things that have helped him get to the position where he is in terms of his own approval ratings. Look, this, however, if you were in favor of this tax bill, which as we know a majority of Americans are not, but if you were in favor of it, this is a real accomplishment. It is certainly his first legislative victory this year. I understand why they want to celebrate it. But, again, I think that there is a substantial argument to be made from its critics about why this could be an albatross for Republicans in the 2018 midterms. And that's something the president will have to own, too.</s>TAPPER: And, Doug, you know better than anyone, presidents always complain about their media coverage. Even somebody like John F. Kennedy, who got fairly glowing media coverage comparatively, complained that his coverage wasn't very positive. What do you think of Sarah Sanders blaming it on the media?</s>BRINKLEY: Well, it's absurd. I mean, Kennedy did complain in his first year about the media, but he had a 77 percent approval rating. Donald Trump, at 35 percent after the end of his first year, means two-thirds of the American people think he's doing a terrible job. Scapegoating the press happens. Richard Nixon tried it in his first year. He unleashed Vice President Spiro Agnew to rip into reporters, attack people like Walter Cronkite. And it failed on Nixon. Of course, Agnew gets driven out of office, meaning it's not a good strategy. The great presidents learn to live with the press and even like them. Reagan, who many liberal reporters didn't like, the press ended up personally liking him. And so they were able to tolerate him. What he's doing by demonizing the press is Nixonian, and it doesn't really score real well in the history books.</s>TAPPER: The big question right now about -- not the big question, but a big question, Maggie, about this tax bill is how much will it benefit President Trump personally.</s>HABERMAN: Right.</s>TAPPER: Sarah Sanders said it could actually cost President Trump a lot on the personal side, although she acknowledged he could benefit on the corporate side. "Forbes" took a look and estimated that President Trump might benefit on the business side actually to the tune of $11 million, based on the most recent tax return from 2005. What do you think?</s>HABERMAN: I mean, I think, until we see his tax returns, this is essentially them saying, take our word for it, and they have refused to release his tax returns, citing an audit that no one has actually confirmed is taking place. It was a hugest precedent break, as you know, for them not to release his tax returns and for him not to release his tax returns. He's essentially asking people to go with, you know, an honor system here, when it is clear that, in terms of businesses, his business and other businesses of his friends and of his donors would qualify for pretty substantial benefits under this tax bill. And that is something that people can just see in front of their eyes. That's not the media spinning it, as the White House would suggest.</s>TAPPER: All right, Maggie Haberman, Doug Brinkley, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Is the only option left with North Korea to starve its people to death? That's what President Trump's homeland security adviser suggested when it comes to applying pressure to Kim Jong-un -- that story next. Stay with us.