Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin next. And senate upset. Democrats get a big win in deep red alabama. I am truly overwhelmed. Could be this the start of a democratic wave . And what does it say about the president s base . Alabamas new senator, democrat doug jones, joins me in moments. Hello, im jake tapper in washington where the state of our union is on edge to see hough the president is going to go. This morning lawyers representing President Trumps Transition Team are accusing the special counsel of obtaining unauthorized access to tens of thousands of president ial transition emails. In a new letter to congress, the lawyer claims it taints the administration and the president is considering firing bob mueller. In a rare response they said, when we have obtained emails in our ongoing criminal investigation, we have secured either the account owners consent or appropriate criminal process, end quote. The special counsel is set to meet with the administration. Here with me to discuss that is treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin. Secretary mnuchin, thank you as always, for being here. Thank you. Its good to be with you. Well get to the taxes in a minute, but i want to ask you about this lawyer for President Trump saying they have achieved tens of thousands of emails from the transition. The lawyers say the investigation is now tainted and this could set a pretext, setting the stage for firing mueller. Would it alarm you if the president fired mueller . I was at dinner last night with the president , the vice president. I havent heard anything about any firing. But we have to get past this investigation. Its a giant distraction. Nobody has said that in any way this impacted the outcome of the election. When you say we have to get past it, do you think it should run its course . I think it should be over quickly. I think there is nothing there, it should be over quickly and people want to focus on other things. Does that include the president firing mueller, when you say you want it over quickly, or should it be allowed to run its course . I dont have any reason to think the president is going to do that, but thats obviously up to him. Lets go to taxes. As he left for camp david yesterday, the president touted the tax reform bill as good for the middle class. This is going to be one of the great gifts for the middle income people in this country that they get for christmas. A lot of people dont know whats in it. What percentage of this tax cut is going to people what make, say, around 200, 250,000 a year . This is really historic. This is the biggest single change to the tax system in fixing a broken tax code that weve ever had. A family of four making 75,000 will get about a 2,000 tax cut, and a family of four making 150,000 will get almost 4,000. Plus, we think as a result of lowering business taxes, wages will go up. This is a huge opportunity for creating jobs, creating tax cuts for working families. But do you have any idea what percentage is going to people who make less than 250,000, less than 200,000 a year . Because i understand that there is a huge tax cut going to Corporate America, and i understand that every tax bracket is getting a tax cut. But what percentage is going to the middle income people that President Trump keeps talking about . Jake, the numbers are very complicated and different people will present it different ways. As you know, there are distribution of taxes, the distribution is staying very similar, and this is all about fixing a broken tax system. So this will be very large tax cuts for working families and very large tax cuts for businesses to make them competitive. We have a broken business tax system. We had one of the highest rates in the world. Were coming down to a 21 , very competitive, and more importantly, were going from a worldwide broken system to a u. S. Jobcentric system thats going to bring trillions of dollars of cash back here to be invested here. One of the biggest changes from the house and Senate Proposals is that the final plan lowers the top tax rate of individuals from 39. 6 to 37 and it raises the threshold at which the top rate kicks in to 600,000 for married couples. It also raises the threshold for estate tax to 11. 2 million. Take a listen to what trump said in september. The rich will not be gaining at all with this plan. Were looking for the middle class and were looking for jobs. Obviously the middle class is getting a tax cut. You outlined it that way, but to say the rich will not be gaining at all with this plan, i dont see any way in which that is true. Jake, let me explain how that is true. Were getting rid of lots and lots of reductions. Were capping state and local reductions at 10,000, so one of the things we were very sensitive to is the hightax states make up a good bit of the economy. So even lowering the top rate from 39 to 37, in the hightax states, rich peoples taxes will be going up. The reason why we lowered the top rate is were very sensitive to thats a very large part of the economy. But the president was right, there are rich people who are having their taxes going up. According to the new york times, low income families who claimed the tax credit would lose out on this bill to the tune of 19 billion over the next decade because of the way the new tax brackets are indexed to inflation. Essentially by adopting this method, it doesnt increase as quickly. The proposal makes it so people will enter the high tax brackets faster. If this is a plan that will help people keep more of their money and will help lower and middle income people, why include this provision that will ultimately hurt lower and middle income americans at the same time that Corporate America is getting this huge tax break . Jake, youre just looking at one little part of the bill and youve got to look at the bill overall. For lowincome people and middleincome working families, their taxes are going down. Their tax credits are going up, the Child Tax Credit is going up significantly. So theyre getting big tax cuts. Thats what this is all about. But the earned income tax credit, the chained inflation part of that, thats going to hurt them down the road. As i said, youre looking at one component of it and you have to look at the total package that theyre getting. And theyre getting significant tax cuts. The treasury department, your department, released an analysis this week claiming the tax plan will pay for itself. Not only that, it will raise almost 300 billion in new revenue. The analysis was criticized, even by some conservative economists, for factoring things in like other reform. You said they were working around the clock for this analysis, yet there was only a onepage report. Will there be a more Detailed Analysis coming . There was a massive model behind it. The president has never performed a detailed model beforehand. During the Obama Administration for the first term, they predicted 3 growth. When they left, they predicted 2. 2 growth. Ive been very consistent in saying the difference between 2. 2 and 2. 9 is 1. 8 trillion. We only need half of that or about a trillion dollars to get to break even. And that half of the growth will come from Corporate Tax reform alone. I want to ask you about this new report in the Washington Post saying policy analysts at the center for Disease Control as well as other divisions at the department of health and Human Services were given a list of forbidden words, words theyre not allowed to use in the budget, including july innerable, entitlement, diversity, transgender, fetus, evidencebased and sciencebased. Why would they tell the administration not to use a word like sciencebased . Ive never seen that. Has anybody told you not to use certain words . Absolutely not. And ive never told anyone in the administration not to use certain words. Have a great holiday. Thank you. Senator doug jones the newest democrat in the senate. Hell join me live. Stay with me. Intense length. Take your lashes to paradise. New lash paradise mascara. From loreal paris. At tmobile when you holiday twogether, great things come in twos. Like tmobile and netflix. Right now when you get an unlimited family plan, netflix is included. Wow tmobile covers your netflix subscription, so you can catch the hottest new movies and shows all year long on us. Amazing and its your last chance to buy any of these hot new Samsung Galaxy phones and get a 2nd one free. Thats one samsung for you and one to gift. Just in time to finish off your list. Tmobile. Holiday twogether. Our recent online sales success seems a little. Strange . Nk na. Ever since we switched to fedex ground business has been great. Theyre affordable and fast. Maybe too affordable and fast. What if. People arent buying these books online, but they are buying them to protect their secrets . . hi bill. If that is your real name. Its william actually. Hmph affordable, fast fedex ground. Was supposed to be a wake reup call for our government . Sh people all across the country lost their savings, their pensions and their jobs. Im tom steyer and it turned out that the system that had benefited people like me who are well off, was, in fact, stacked against everyone else. Its why i left my Investment Firm and resolved to use my savings for the public good. But here we are nine years later and this president and the Republican Congress are making a bad situation even worse. They wont tell you that their so called tax reform plan is really for the wealthy and big corporations, while hurting the middle class. It blows up the deficit and that means fewer investments in education, health care and job creation. Its up to all of us to stand up to this president. Not just for impeachable offenses, but also to demand a country where everyone has a real chance to succeed. Join us. Your voice matters. It feels good to be back. New ultimate surf turf event. And that means five mouthwatering pairings to choose from. Like our new feast with lobsterwrapped scallops and a juicy steak. Or a new lobster and seafoodtopped filet. Tempted . Better hurry in, it ends soon. So we know how to cover almost almoanything. Hing even a swing set standoff. And we covered it, july first, twentyfifteen. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum welcome back to state of the union. Im jake tapper. It was a shocking victory tuesday night, doug jones becoming the first democrat to win a senator seat in alabama in a quarter century. Doug jones in a ruby red state makes republicans wonder if President Trump has a chance in 2018. Joining us in key west where he is celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary, the newly elected senator from alabama, senator doug jones, congratulations on both the Senate Victory and, of course, the 25th wedding anniversary. Thank you, jake. I appreciate that. Glad to be with you here today. Thanks very much. Let me start by asking you about this letter sent to congress by President Trumps lawyers accusing Robert Mueller of obtaining unauthorized access to tens of thousands of emails in the trump transition. Do you think the investigation may be tainted . I dont know about that particular letter. I would be very surprised if bob mueller did anything illegally obtained or anything like that. Else the consummate professional and that investigation is proceeding, its going forward. I dont see any taint at this point. The one thing that came up with regard to an fbi agent who had done some emails and was removed from the team, thats the process, thats how it works, so i think it will just move forward. Im not sure if you heard secretary mnuchin, but he seemed to suggest he wants the investigation over. He hasnt heard President Trump talk about firing mueller but it would be up to the president. Would you be concerned if the president fired mueller . I think anybody would be concerned if bob mueller was fired. I think this investigation is moving and its going to shake down the way its going to shake down. Theres a lot of different avenues. Ive been in those grand juries, ive dealt with those subpoenas before. I think this will run its course. I dont think hes going to rush it, but at the same time i think hes moving fairly expeditiously because he understands the importance of trying to get this over and out in the open as soon as possible. Roy moore, your opponent, your vanquished opponent, still has not conceded. In fact, hes out fundraising. Roy moores email sent out this weekend says the battle is not over, they claim voter fraud, they want money for an integrity fund. Whats your message to roy moore this morning . I say its time to move on. Alabama has spoken. It was a close election, theres no question about that, but elections can be close sometimes. Now its time to heal and move on and go to the next thing. Were ready. Were starting to put our Team Together to take over and try to get in there as soon as possible. And i would just say lets go. The election should be certified in a week or so, and ill be ready to go regardless of whether he concedes or not. You told reporters on wednesday that you had, quote, a gracious phone call with President Trump. The president , of course, has not always been so gracious when it comes to you in the days leading up to the election. He repeatedly attacked you saying you were weak on crime, a puppet, bad for the military. Is that all water under the bridge, as far as youre concerned . Of course it is. When i got into this race, jake, i understood there would be a litany of things said about me. Its a kind of checklist when you get involved in politics. None of that affected us. We moved forward. We were able to respond to show that i stood on my record on a number of those things, and we took our message straight to the people for the state of alabama, and were looking forward now. All those things we can Work Together with anybody. Thats been my whole mantra. Lets just try to find Common Ground to get things done for the people in the state as well as the people in the country. Republican Senator Cory Gardner who is the chairman of the Senate Republican campaign arm, the nrc, reportedly did not endorse roy moore. Cory gardner was adamantly opposed to roy moore. But look at the statement he released after your victory. Quote, i hope senatorelect doug jones will do the right thing and truly represent alabama by choosing to vote with the Senate Republican majority. It went with President Trump by 8 points. Do you need to consider voting with republicans on some issues . Of course i do. Look, jake, one of the problems in american politics right now in my opinion is that everybody thinks because youre a member of one party or another youre going to vote a certain way. That should not be the case. It shouldnt ever be the case. Im going to talk to people on both sides of the aisle, try to figure out what i think is in the best interests of my state and in the country. Now, dont expect me to vote solidly for republicans or democrats. I came up with senator Howell Heflin from alabama many years ago. He always said to do the things he does he does whats best for his constituents. I dont think republdemocrats s count on my vote for everything. Im going to study all sides. Is there a position you think you might vote for the republicans . Just looking at your position papers, you seecm like a democrat. I dont see any areas where you might vote with the republicans. Sure. I think youre going to see an infrastructure bill coming up next year. Thats going to be, i think, very important to the people of the state of alabama. Im going to try to look at that. I think there is any number of things that you can do. But, you know, these big issues, the problem weve got right now is were looking at these giant issues, a 500page tax bill that just landed on somebodys desk the other day that nobody really knows all thats in there. The Health Care Bills were the same way. I think there is any number of issues that come up on a daily basis or a weekly basis that we can find Common Ground on. But thats the main thing, is that a bill or an issue may start out one way, but trying to work with both sides, with both parties, i think is going to be the way to go to try to get things done. You had tremendous support from africanamerican voters on tuesday, according to cnns exit polls. You won the africanamerican vote by 92 , africanamerican women even higher. Native alabaman Charles Barkley was all in campaigning for you. He told me this after your victory. Take a listen. This is a wakeup call for democrats. Theyve taken the black vote and the poor vote for granted for a long time. Its time for them to get off their ass and start making life better for black folks and people who are poor. Do you agree . Yeah. Im having a little trouble hearing you there, jake. I thought you said, do you agree . Yes. I dont think you should take any votes for granted. I think its time we start looking around. Alabama is a very diverse state. Weve got areas we need to focus on for jobs, education, the economy. Working with congresswoman sewell, who was a great partner in this campaign. I told folks early on in this campaign that Everybody Needs to do a political reset button and start looking at issues and start voting on those issues rather than political parties. Writer and civil rights activist sean king says you, senatorelect jones, need to appoint at least two africanamericans to the four major positions you need to fill in your Senate Office. Can you commit to doing that . Im going to commit to having a Senate Office both in my state and in d. C. That reflects the diversity