Putin Holds Annual Press Conference.
ROMANS: All right. Right now, Russian President Vladimir Putin is wrapping the year with a marathon news conference. He's fielding questions about relations with the U.S. and he's making some news about his own political future as well. CNN's Phil Black is monitoring all of this live for us in Moscow. What's the headline, Phil?</s>PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a few things here, Christine. Vladimir Putin was asked to assess Donald Trump's first year in power. He said that's not his job, that's for the American people. But he talked about Trump having a number of major successes and pointed to the state of the financial markets, saying that they indicate that people still trust the American economy and that means they trust the decisions that Donald Trump is making. He was also asked about the many contacts between Russian officials and Trump's people -- contacts which are now the subject of multiple investigations in the United States. His view -- and he's kind of said this before -- is that he believes it's all largely been made up by Trump's opponents to delegitimize his presidency. And he said that in so doing, these people are actually undermining their own country in the process, as well. Nothing unusual, he says, about Russia's ambassador meeting with people from an incoming administration. He also talked about his own political future in the sense that he's running for reelection in just three months' times. That's when the next presidential vote in this country is. And he said that will run as an Independent, not associated with the United Russia Party as he has been in the past. That's the dominant political party in this country. What it seems to indicate is that he is trying to broaden his appeal as much as possible because while he is expected to win this election pretty comfortably -- there simply isn't another opponent, really -- what he's battling against is voter apathy so he wants as many people to turn out and vote for him in March at that election, Christine.</s>ROMANS: All right. Phil Black for us. Thank you so much this morning where it's about two in the afternoon in Moscow. Thank you, sir. Three members of the International Space Station crew landing safely after 139 days in orbit. One of the men who landed in Kazakhstan is from NASA, one from the European Space Agency, and the third, a Russian cosmonaut. On Sunday, a new crew launches. One from NASA, one from Russia, and the third from Japan. May the force be with you tonight. You may need it if you plan to stand in line for "</s>STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI" which opens in North America in just hours. It is expected to top $200 million at the box office, one of the biggest openings of all time. Demand for tickets is so high some theaters in New York will be showing the film on a 24-hour schedule, starting at 6:00 p.m. tonight. Let's get a check on "CNN Money Stream" this morning. Global stock markets are mixed right now. U.S. stocks rose after reports congressional leaders reached a deal on the tax bill. The Dow hit a record high. The S&P, though, closed lower after financial shares fell and when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. That's the third hike this year. It means higher rates on mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards. The future of how the Internet is regulated is about to change. The FCC is scheduled to vote today on a controversial plan to rollback Obama-era net neutrality protections. The 2015 rules intended to keep the Internet open and fair, barring the blocking or slowing of Internet traffic. FCC chair Ajit Pai says the regulations stifle broadband investment and innovation, but advocates argue that without it consumers would face higher costs and slower speeds. The repeal is expected to pass. Target is speeding up its delivery service in a challenge to Amazon. Target bought delivery service Shipt to begin same-day delivery. The plan here is to offer this at half of its stores by early 2018 and all major markets by the next holiday season. Until now, Target and other store-based retailers had one advantage over online. You could pick up your items the same day. But now, Amazon is making the push to same-day delivery, so there is real fight in the retail space. And I think you, the consumer, are the big beneficiary there. Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans. "NEW DAY" starts right now.</s>TRUMP: We want to give you, the American people, a giant tax cut for Christmas.</s>MATTINGLY: Negotiators struck a deal about how to reconcile the House and Senate plans.</s>SCHUMER: The public knows what's going on and that is tax cuts for the wealthiest.</s>ROY MOORE (R), LOST ALABAMA SENATE ELECTION: We have not received a final count. Our political process has been affected with baseless and false allegations.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But certainly shows that the voters of Alabama are taking another look at the Trump administration.</s>DOUG JONES (D), ALABAMA SENATOR-ELECT: It was a very gracious call. He congratulated me on the race that we'd won.</s>REP. JIM JORDAN (R), OHIO: And I think the public trust in this whole thing is gone.</s>ROD ROSENSTEIN, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Nobody has communicated to me a desire to remove Robert Mueller.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would hope to think he's safe. If not, then all hell will break loose.