To the Supreme Court. Did the president almost under do what would be one of his biggest accomplishments . Plus, more than double the speed limit. Thats 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 . This is cnn breaking news. Good afternoon, everyone, welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. Were going to begin with the breaking news. After passing the house of representatives by a vote of 227203, the republican tax bill now heads to the u. S. Senate and could be on President Trumps resolute desk by tomorrow. The first major legislative success for the Republican Party this year. The legislation proposes sweeping changes to the nations 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 hardfought 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 of the American People oppose the tax overhaul with only 33 supporting it. And 66 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 analysis of the legislation. Lets begin with jeff zeleny at the white house for us. Jeff, the cnn poll today found President Trumps Approval Rating hitting a new low in a cnn poll. Possibly passing this tax bill could help him get that number up. Reporter 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 . President trump on the verge of tasting victory on a 1. 5 trillion tax plan. Today we are giving the people of this country their money back. This is their money after all. Reporter despite protests in the house chamber, republicans finally flexed their muscles and relied on their congressional majority to help deliver what will be the gops biggest legislative victory of the year. Yet the tax bill scheduled to 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 of americans oppose it while 33 support it. At the white house today, press secretary Sarah Sanders defended the plan, insisting the president wouldnt unduly benefit. In some ways, particularly on the personal side, the president will take a big hit, on the business side he could benefit. 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. Reporter the president has been wearing his salesman hat for months, pushing the biggest tax overhaul in three decades, but the public remains deeply skeptical. We want to give you, the American People, a giant tax cut for christmas. And when i siay giant, i mean giant. Reporter so far that pitch has not worked with a majority of the American People. The new cnn poll finds 2 3 believe it will do more to benefit the wealthy, while 27 believe it will benefit the middle class. In lockstep today, House Democrats voted against the bill, blasted by their leader nancy pelosi. This gop tax scam is simply theft. Monumental, brazen theft from the american middle class and from every person who aspires to reach it. Reporter 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 stashlg stock market and booming economy, the new cnn poll shows the president s Approval Rating at 35 , the lowest for any modern president at the end of his first year in office. All of 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 suspect in february. Fuming over today the president tweeted, i never even wavered and am very proud of him and the job he is doing. 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 will benefit on the personal side. Sarah sanders said again today he has no ploons of releasing those tax returns, saying again theyre under audit. Every other president and president ial candidate has done so. Jake, were getting word the white house is making plans for some type officer moan here tomorrow around noon time to either sign that bill or a rallying ceremony of some kind to crow about their first legislative accomplishment of the year. Jeff zeleny at the white house for us. Thanks so much. Lets discuss with two president ial experts. Doug, let me start with you. Can you recall a less popular major piece of legislation headed to victory . No. And the fact of the matter is, its being jammed in and done right before christmas so there is something desperate about it. Its happening when people are calling trumps first year a slowmotion disaster. Everybodys saying there was no legislative victories all year long and here at the last minute theyre getting this pushed through. And as jeff just mentioned, the fact that, you know, donald trump isnt transparent. He isnt showing people his taxes. It seems to be a sweetheart deal for rich people. The one thing obama was able do 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. Hes got the problem, trump now with this, that its just a republican bill. There is no unit or bipartisanness about it. He owns the economy now. 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. 90 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 his numbers would be a lot higher. What do you think, maggie . 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 and have some accomplishment and hed get praise. He believes 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. Thats something the president will have to own, too. And, doug, you know better than anyone, president s always complain about their Media Coverage, even somebody like john f. Kennedy who got fairly glowing Media Coverage comparatively complained his coverage wasnt very positive. What do you think of Sarah Sanders blaming it on the media . Well, its absurd. I mean, kennedy did complain in his first year about the media, but he had a 77 Approval Rating. Donald trumpathad 35 after the end of his first year. Twothirds of the American People think hes doing a terrible job. Scapegoating the press happens. Richard nixon tried it in his first year. He unleashed spiro agnew. Agnew gets driven out of office. Its not a good strategy. The great president s learn to live with the press and even like them. Reagan, many liberal reporters didnt like the press ended up personally liking him. They were able to tolerate him. What hes doing by demonizing the press is nixonian and it doesnt really score real well in the history books. The big question now about not the big question but a big question, maggie, about this tax bill is how much will it benefit President Trump personally . 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 . 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. Hes 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. That is something that people can just see in front of their eyes. Thats not the media spinning it, as the white house would suggest. All right. Maggie haberman and doug brinkley. Thank you so much. Is the only option with north korea to starve its people to death . Thats what president s Homeland Security adviser suggested when it comes to applying pressure to kim jongun. That story next. Stay with us. Ive always been a bit of a morning person. I like to get up early, walk around. This is my thinking time. Its when i ponder the deep questions, like which came first, the egg or the chicken . How would i know . But what i do know is this invention comes first. Then product development. 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My panel is here, but first, the u. S. Is accusing north korea of an attack. Thankfully not with the Nuclear Weapons that the u. S. Government has been so concerned about, but rather with a cyber attack. While it happened earlier this year in may, the fact that the Trump White House is finally pointing the finger at north korea could only increase tensions in the current environment. I want to bring in cnns chief National Security correspondent jim sciutto. Jim, why now, why is the u. S. Assigning blame now . Its not clear why theyre going public now. This has been the belief for some time in uk intelligence and microsoft have come out with this conclusion blaming north korea. There is a different standard for the u. S. Government to come out and publicly declare north korea. You saw that with russian interference in the election. That was the belief for some time before they went public with their assessment. This might be bart of a broader attempt to apply as much pressure on north korea as possible. This was according to the Homeland Security adviser, this was a major attack. Does the u. S. Have any plans to retaliate . Its interesting, it was a revealing comment from tom bossert who is in charge of the administrations cyber security. For him to basically delineate how limited u. S. Options are to deter north korea. Listen to how he said that earlier today. At this point, north korea has done everything wrong as an actor on the global stage that a country can do and President Trump has used just about every lever you can use short of starving the north Korean People to death to change their behavior. We dont have a lot of room left here to apply their behavior. Whats interesting there is in effect he is teeing up what is the remaining option which, of course, is military action. You heard the president s National Security adviser h. R. Mcmaster make some comments that were interpreted at least as opening the door to preemptive military action. Because he said in so many words we cannot tolerate the risk of north korea having a Nuclear Weapon. The evidence shows that north korea may have a Nuclear Weapon that they may very well put atop a missile that could hit the u. S. The question is, was he telegraphing that the administration is prepared to use military action . Not clear. Some people took alarm at those remarks. Thank you so much. The president s National Security adviser general h. R. Mcmaster whom jim just referred to, he responded today to a Harsh Criticism against President Trump the former director of National Intelligence made here yesterday on the lead. Said that Vladimir Putin has been manipulating President Trump. I think this past weekend is illustrative of what a great case officer Vladimir Putin is. He knows how to handle an asset, and thats what hes doing with the president. Today mcmaster appeared on cbs news and was asked about what clapper told us. Its just not true. What the president s asked us to do with russia, though, as well is to make sure we can deter conflict. Lets talk about this with our panel. Let me start with you, symone. General clapper wasnt saying that President Trump was an asset in the traditional sense, like he was a plant or a mole, but just that putin was playing him. Do you think there is a case to be made there . I absolutely think there is a case to be made that, you know, president putin has some sophisticated way of dealing with President Trump that President Trump does not necessarily have with him. Thats just not something that director clapper has said. Other folks have echoed that. I think this white house is clearly a little bit sensitive for obvious reasons about President Trump. Any assertions that Presid