And wonders wonders of his love this was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration period. There is a collision i have decided to recuse myself. I think theres blame on both sides. I think the president needs to step up. Its unacceptable. The stunning no vote sinking the gops vote to repeal obamacare. Theres a reason that the stock market is at an alltime high. The president ought to stop tweeting and start leading. Weve got aplusses on texas and florida, and we will also on puerto rico. Dammit, this is not a good story. This is a people are dying story. Everything has burned down. Historic year for california wildfires. Wouldnt you love to see one of these nfl owners to say get that son of a bitch off the field . Al Franken Harvey weinstein facing allegations together we rock the world. This is new day. Good morning, and welcome to a special Christmas Day edition of new day. Merry christmas to all of you. Im chris cuomo along with alisyn camerota. We have a big show. Well look at 2017 and the big news stories. We cant talk about the past year without focusing on the dominant news story. That is, of course, President Trumps first year in office. From firing his fbi director to overseeing a booming economy, were going to break down the defining issues of the Trump Presidency so far. And another one of the years big stories, of course, the hurricane thats devastated houston, florida, puerto rico, and the caribbean islands. Well check in with nfl superstar j. J. Watt. He raised more than 37 million for Hurricane Harvey relief. So how is houston doing today . Plus, the show would not be complete without talking about holiday challenges like returns. Well share some tips to make that process less painful. And on this christmas, well look at the role faith has played this year. How do people live with their faith amid political fighting and National Crises . Well check that. First to headlines at the newscast. Reporter good morning. Merry christmas to all of you. Im alison kosik. Right now pope francis delivering his Christmas Day address and blessing to the city of rome and to the entire world. Cnns john allen is live in rome. I know this is a pontiff whos been especially outspoken on international issues. What is his message today . Reporter hi there, Merry Christmas to you and yours. This is important to remember that to the city and world, the address that francis is giving today, isnt just the pope saying Merry Christmas, and its not an exclusively religious message. Theres a lot of politics in there, too. Kind of a 360degree review of the global situation. In light of the tensions over jerusalem and the vaticans longstanding support for a twostate solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, its reasonable to think the pope may touch on that today. I would expect him to touch on other areas of the middle east, especially iraq and syria, with which the vatican has been concerned this year. Probably parts of africa and asia, as well, especially the korean conflict. Even on this holiest day of the year for christians, this is a pope who will remain determined to try to press the ball on his diplomatic and political agenda. A pope who sees himself as a peace pope. And he will be at it again on Christmas Day. John allen live in rome. Thank you very much. Guatemala announcing plans to move its embassy in israel to jerusalem. The president spoke to Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu and instructed guatemalas Foreign Ministry to initiate the process to make it possible. The Central American nation is the first country to announce it would move its embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem since President Trump issued his announcement earlier this month. The u. N. Voted overwhelmingly last week to condemn the u. S. Move. At least ten People Killed and five injured in a suicide bomb attack in afghanistan. It took place near afghanistans Intelligence Headquarters in kabul. The site is close to the u. S. Embassy and several other diplomatic missions. At this point, no group has claimed responsibility. Im alison kosik. More headlines in 30 minutes. Merry christmas. Lets begin this morning talking about the role of faith during such a politically charged time. Families can sometimes clash over the heightened feelings surrounding issues that affect their lives. What is at root of these disagreements . Is there a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, or is it just the train . We have a special group with us. Cnn religion commentator father edward beck. Senior rabbi of central synagogue, angela bookdall, and founder and president of the religious house, imam. Father, lets start with you. Where do you think we stand from a spiritual speck . Im interesting that if you go to mass today, catholics, the gospel is not about the nativity. Its the gospel of john that says, a light has come into the darkness, and the darkness shall not overcome it. For me, its a season about where is light coming to the darkness. If you look at whats happening now in our country and the world, take the metoo women. Thousands of women coming out of the shadows, out of the darkness, into the light. Thats a christmas message. You saw the pope this month in myanmar and bangladesh. There to visit his small children communities. Is that where hes shown the light . No. On a small muslim oppressed group, the rohingya. And he said the presence of gods name is rohingya. Yet a kid being bullied, and they posted a video on line of his mother, and millions of people said this is darkness. This cannot stand. The tax bill, the president saying this is the christmas gift. A tax bill. Well, the u. S. Bishops have come out against it for a reason. Most of the United States populus does not support it, why . Because it disadvantages the working poor and advantages the rich. This is a story about holy family leaves, why do they go to bethlehem . To register in a census. Its about taxation of an oppressive regime. Then they have to flee as refugees to another country . This is not just about reindeer and snowflakes. This story is about refugees. Its about taxation. Its about fleeing oppression. Its a hard political message, but that is the story in light and darkness. Theres no getting away from politics. There isnt. Its become intertwined with everything in our lives. And i like that you find beacons of light obviously through this year because its been a bitter toxic year, rabbi. So what is the message for people . How will 2018 be different when we feel so sort of dug in to thi this . The political has been personal. I think you see this with families. Families are at each others throats at holiday celebrations, which should be uplifting times for love and celebration. And oftentimes you bring up one topic, and the family doesnt want to speak and go to separate rooms. If youre lucky. Or they leave and cut the turkey without me. I think the issue is being able to find points of not just connection but trying to hear each other with what i would call resilient listening which is the kind of listening thats not just so that we can argue with each other or make our point or prove that were right. But actually to truly understand where people are coming from. And im reminded that there is a light of divinity in every human being, and of course in our family members. I think the goal here is to be able to listen with the goal of understanding why did they think this way, what is the pain or fear that theyre speaking with, and to have a different kind of compassion when we listen. That to me is a form of light and is a spiritual practice in the season when were with our family and arguing and with our friends and arguing a lot. Look, nowhere is the sensitivity more acutely felt than in your commute. To be muslim in america, we hear it all the time. America has millions of muslim americas. And they feel very much like theyre in the cross hairs, that theyre blamed for terrorism. That theres an overshadowing of it. Whats the message to your community . The most Important Message to learn is that every prophet was a window to god. That every human being needs to connect with god. Its the connection to god that unites us not only with god but with each other and with creation. Its the disconnect from god that divides us and that causes such division. To me, the thing that we have lost, many of our even muslims themselves have lost, is that spirituality. The connection to god. We revere jesus as a prophet. Revere mother mary as a prophet. We believe that every prophet came with a particular signature. And jesus message was particularly strong in the spiritual aspect. He was taught to speak through and with the power of the holy spirit. And when we fill ourselves with this connection, the connection to god actually and spiritual practices fill us with not only this light of god unites us, it brings an intensification of love. It help us overcome divisions. It gives us hope because prayer itself, prayer itself is the embodiment of hope. Our Christian Brothers say love is hope and charity. This unites us together, and its the need to recapture that, to intensify it, to do practices together that intensify, heighten, amplify our spirituality that will enable us to enjoy power diversity, celebrate our enjoy our diversity, celebrate our diversity, and as we call ourselves american, epl pluplu s epluribus unum. While we celebrate our diversity. That is beautiful on. That note, imam, rabbi, father, thank you very much for giving us hope today as we celebrate christmas. Thank you all very much for being here. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Next, the year in politics. What were the defining issues of the Trump Presidency this year . We discuss next. Give a little bit give a little bit. Hello. Give a little bit. Of your love to me oh, haha. Theres so much that we need to share so send a smile and show that you care ill give a little bit of my love to you they appear out of nowhere. My secret visitors. Appearing next to me in plain sight. Hallucinations and delusions. These are the unknown parts of living with parkinsons disease. What stories they tell. But for my ears only. What plots they unfold. But only in my mind. Over 50 of people with parkinsons will experience hallucinations or delusions during the course of their disease. And these can worsen over time, making things even more challenging. But there are advances that have led to Treatment Options that can help. If someone you love has parkinsons and is experiencing hallucinations or delusions, talk to your parkinsons specialist. Because theres more to parkinsons. My visitors should be the ones i want to see. Learn more at moretoparkinsons. Com ahh. The new guy. Whoa, he looks he looks exactly like me. No. Separated at birth much . We should switch name tags, and no one would know who was who. Jamie, you seriously think you look like him . Uh, im pretty good with comparisons. Like how progressive helps people save money by comparing rates, even if were not the lowest. Even if were not the lowest. Whoa wow. I mean, the outfit helps, but pretty great. Look at us. Listen to our. [ music playing ] and beautiful graphic for Christmas Day. Merry christmas, everyone. So there were too many defining moments to count during this eventful first year of the Trump Presidency. Lets focus on four big issues that have had a real impact on the white house and the country. And lets talk about it with cnn political analysts David Gregory and john avalon. Great to see both of you. Merry christmas. Lets start with the firing of james cocoa and what has led james comey and what has led to the russia investigation and ripple effect. That has been a defining moment, i think fair to say. No question about it. Here are you in the first full month of the trump administration. Coming in with his american carnage inaugural. Really an administration taking shape, Michael Flynn goes, theres a comey firing, and all the dominoes start falling with that dominated the year. The investigation, the fights between the president and press. And an investigation that normally doesnt happen in the first year of the presidency. This is serious stuff. The notable piece is that the president then brings upon an obstruction of justice investigation on to himself. What was a real investigation into whether the campaign was somehow working with the russians to influence the election became an obstruction case which is much easier to prove, and which has led to a level of paranoia on the par of the president that he brought on himself. And if he hadnt fired comey, he wouldnt be in the potential jeopardy that he may or may not be in. Absolutely. No. And he also had pretext to do it given how politicized jim comey had made the fbi who certainly made a lot of mistakes. An incredible moment in this investigation. On the probe in 2018, what do you think . Do we believe it wraps up this year . Do we believe it happens early this year . What do you think happens . I actually think that it will wrap up sooner rather than later. My hunch is that mueller and his team will be streamlined, focused about. This they understand at the end of the year all the criticism of investigators, bias, even among mainstream conservatives. I think you have to believe this takes on a financial dimension. I think the potential financial relationship between russia and the Trump Campaign and his family, this an s thats an area of inquiry. We got information regarding banking relationships. Thats something ill be looking for in the year ahead. By any measure, this investigation is moving fast, but its vast. See what i did that i saw that. Like that. He did it not wearing a christmas vest. Thats all i know. I dont have the skills to pull off that ver i agree that i think it will be a key part, with the indictments of manafort and gates, thats an aspect. But the president needs to draw a red line saying, look, its got to be contained. If you go into the financials and raising the specter of firing mueller. But thats another thing to watch, will congress try to make it more difficult for the foot do . Are we head for the president to do . Are we heading for an investigation, or will he respond as a deliberate democracy is supposed to do . I think it will come to a ahead. I dont think its muellers intent to stretch it out. One point about the attack on mueller. I mean, at the end of the year, the president made clear he doesnt want to fire him. Make no mistake, this is they are following the clinton playbook on discrediting mueller, when they did to star. Next defining moment in a year of incendiary talk, charlottesville and what happened and the protests in charlottesville stood out. Listen to this we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, baghdad on theory, and violence bigotry, and violence on many sides often many sides. It was the on many sides people objected to. It was repugnant. It harkened back to the hatred of races that was part of the country, to antisemitism. It was ugly. And for the president of the United States to engage on that i think was if not shocking, it was it rattled the ground that people stood on even in his own party to think this is a guy who does not have a sense of moral authority in this office. And is sufficiently disrespectful. To engage in the kind of talk that gets people digging into conspiracy theories, who start questioning the press and the very nature of truth, this was more tyrannical talk than anything else. This is not the stuff of democracy. It was just awful. Look, the oval office is primarily an office of moral leadership. Different president s have succeeded or failed by that standard. Charlottesville made us confront the specter of the neonazi next door. Yeah. There were white kids in polo shirts holding torches talking about blood and swell. And it was so repugnant, and for any equivocation to occur, i think that really crystalized the dangerous forces weve been playing with in our politics in a way that was absolutely undeniable. I think that was a crystallizing moment for our nation for what were confronting. Sadly, for the haters, too. Those who loved what the president said most was the white supremacists. The trade was, hell be good for the economy. The economy by just about every metric other than wages, is doing great. What does the president deserve, and what is the forecast Going Forward . You know, its hard to say. He gets the credit that any incumbent should get, right . Just as no incumbent should get the blame if things experience a downturn. There are things around the world theres a global advance in economies around the world which is great. Lots of underlying problems about wage disparity and so forth. But there was, interestingly, an expectation throughout the year that drove the bull market around tax reform. An incredibly mixed picture. But still this expectation for him to deliver in some ways that did fuel the economy. I think thats true. This other point about politics that is about blaming other people for economic circumstances is still the ugly underside of what weve seen in terms of the strength of the economy. What i think you can say is the business of a businessman president who wanted to focus on deregulation and cutting taxes did give a boost to the economy. There had been a slow recovery under president obama. After the election, there was a lot of expectation that the inherent destabilization of this man in the markets would make people nervous. Theres specters on the global stage that would make people feel skeptical. The gap is wages, and the ski this president campaigned appealing to main street, not wall street. People who felt left behind from the recovery of the great recession. And can he actually reach out, and can those folks find relief and optimism in real terms . Thats going to be one of the real tests of 2018. It is, but the nature of the tax plan and how this president not just the president but Republican Leaders screwed it, screwed blue america, went out of their way to punish wealthy P