Transcripts For CNNW At This Hour With Kate Bolduan 20170317

Outside the chain of command. He didnt use the nsa, cia, fbi, or the department of justice. He used gchq. What is that . Its the initials for the British Intelligence spying agency. Simply by having two people saying to them the president needs transcripts of conversations involving candidate trumps conversations, hes able to get it and theres no american fingerprints on this. Spicer there citing a fox news report that British Intelligence helped the Obama Administration spy on donald trump. The uk not happy. A spokesman for the Prime Minister calling the claim you are the utterly ridiculous, this comes as President Trump is standing by his allegations that former president Obama Wiretapped him despite the fact that the republican chairs of the house and Senate Intelligence committees have come out to say there is no evidence to back that up. What started as a twitter accusation has become an international incident. Lets bring in jeff zeleny at the white house for us. Jeff, one thing you noticed that stands out on this, this is not a white house to apology veize often. What does this say about this . Reporter it shows, kate, how important and grave this is. White House Press Secretary sean spicer, when he was reading from the long list, trying to craft some type of explanation for this whole bizarre wiretapping claim thats been consuming this white house for two weeks now, he was reading through a laundry list of what he called news reports, but actually it was fringe reports on commentaries, other things. But the uk of course was watching his briefing. When youre speaking from the white house podium, of course the world is watching. So immediately after sean spicer suggested that the British Intelligence may have helped president obama spy on trump tower, the white house got an earful from the british. The spokesman for the british Prime Minister, as you said earlier, said this is utter nonsense. And it went on from there. Overnight the white house was forced to agree to apologize to this. This is really the first time that the new National Security adviser, h. R. Mcmaster, has weighed in here. And he said, look, it was not interferen intentional, it wont happen again. But intentional is interesting, sean spicer was reading from a long list for eight minutes straight yesterday. It shows that every word spoken from this white house has consequences. It seems to me this white house is still trying to learn that lesson. Theyre still getting used to that standard, if you will. Jeff, this comes on a very important day for this president and his relationships abroad. German chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting. Reporter she is indeed. Shell be here really within the next few moments or so. People are starting to line up on the entrance here to the west wing lobby. And now, kate, this is arguably the most important facetoface meeting with a world leader that this president has yet to hold in the first couple of months in office here. He of course has such history with Angela Merkel. Hes never met her facetoface, actually. But he has suggested that her immigration policies have ruined germany. Thats something he said in 2015. So this is a reset of that relationship. So interesting, kate, shes been studying his speeches, his activities, to try and get a read on this. So its definitely resetting a relationship. Its in the interests of both countries, of course, to have a good relationship. Well see how that goes today. Here at the white house, hell be meeting with her in the oval office, a private lunch, as well as a press conference in the east room this afternoon. Even putting policy differences aside, the styles of these two World Leaders could not be more different. Well be watching it with you, jeff, great to see you, thank you so much. Cnn has learned that at least one House Republican now thinks President Trump should apologize to his predecessor for claiming that former president barack Obama Wiretapped him. Listen to this. I see no indication that thats true. And so its not a charge i would have ever made. Frankly, unless you can produce some pretty compelling proof, then i think the president , you know, president obama is owed an apology in that regard. If he didnt do it, we shouldnt be reckless in accusations that he did. Joining me now is the guy you saw asking the questions there, cnns senior congressional reporter manu rajraju. Manu, this is a big statement coming from a House Republican. Reporter absolutely. Ive talked to a number of other republicans who are not willing to go that far including congressman darrell issa, who says im not going to suggest anybody should apologize. But tom cole is influential in the House Republican conference. He is viewed as a pragmatist, someone who is making a pretty strong statement that its time for President Trump to apologize. Now, this comes as a number of republicans are just frankly fed up with the white houses handling of the wiretapping issue. They believe that theres no evidence, they believe what the house and Senate Intelligence committees have been saying, theres no evidence of wiretapping, and that the president and the white house continuing to dig in is a major distraction and also hurts their credibility. One congressman, congressman charlie dent who i just spoke with as well, said that this does undercut the president s credibility and it really saps his political momentum. And i believe we have sound of charlie dent right here, take a listen to what he had to say. Its inexplicable. Ive said that the original tweet accusing former president obama of wiretapping the current president s phone, apparently there is no evidence or any basis in fact. So i think he should simply retract it. Reporter so this comes of course at a critical time, kate, a time when the president is trying to sell his own party to get behind a Health Care Bill that many republicans are not ready to support, and at a time when he appears to be expending a lot of his Political Energy on these wiretapping issues that a lot of republicans simply cannot defend. It does have a political impact on capitol hill, especially if his credibility starts to deteriorate in the eyes of the american public, it makes it a lot harder for his own party to fall behind him as well. So congressman charlie dent raising that concern shows the impact of what sean spicer said in the White House Briefing room and what the president continues to say, it has a large impact on the president s agenda going forward. Charlie dent speaking to me earlier this week summed it up well, from his perspective as a lawmaker, he says when the president speaks its policy, when the president tweets its policy. Thats the basis of where hes coming from on this one. Great to see you, manu, thank you so much. From one apology to the other, back to the apology that has been made by this white house so far, to the british. Let me bring in right now bob baer and alex johnson. Bob, what do you make of this, the british spokesman for the Prime Minister saying President Trumps claim is ridiculous and should be ignored . For gchq to make a press Statement Like this, ive never heard of it. Its unprecedented. The accusation sean spicer made is britain got involved in our politics, which for the british is a red line. If this white house continues to play with National Security like this for political partisan purposes, and frankly, bat around lies that everyone knows is a lie, this is going to hurt our security. And sean spicer is going to get People Killed because gchq will stop cooperating eventually. Thats a real concern when you want to talk about fallout from anything like this. Alex, from the political perspective, you do not see this president or this white house apologize. That speaks to their concern about what the fallout could be here. You dont see them apologizing as a general matter. I dont really even see them walking back claims that the president makes. What weve seen over the last few days is sean spicer in that Briefing Room trying to tap dance around the very basic and inflammatory assertions that the president himself has made. This was not a shoot from the hip moment that sean decided to bring it up. He was reading this. Well, but, you know, i suppose that its not shoot from the hip in that it was from a prepared document. But it was kind of shoot from the hip in that this is clearly not something that, you know, the american intelligence and Foreign Policy community would say, yeah, go with that, right . Just speaking to the politics of this, it is a challenge for the white house to, you know, during the campaign, the president said over and over that once this is over, he can be as president ial as anyone, right . And when you look at the polling, there is this expectation that, you know, he will be different or he would stop tweeting or things like that. That part clearly hasnt happened, right . Its part of the reason why events like a state visit from a major foreign leader, such an important test for the president , can he rise to that moment against the backdrop that were talking about right now. Yes. One thing they didnt need is this meeting with Angela Merkel oversh shadoshadowed overshadowed. You say that British Intelligence could just stop cooperating with u. S. Intelligence. Does an apology clean it all up from your perspective, bob . Apology, he has to stop, like i said, playing around with National Security, kate. The real point here is, if he, the president , and the press secretary, are taking their intelligence from altright outlets, whether its breitbart or anywhere else, how do we know theyre not doing the same regarding north korea which were talking about going to war with . I dont know. I mean, this may be coming from the Intelligence Community or it may be somebody thats watching, you know, cable tv and thats where they get their intelligence. That really does worry me. How deep does this go, people relying on conspiracy theories . And has the fallout been stopped . Well see with regard to this one. Its just kind of playing out before us as the moments tick by. Bob, great to see you, alex, please stick around, we have more to discuss with you ahead. Another big headline, when it comes to the republican Health Care Bill. Right now it is all about the math. Not how much your health care costs, but rather how many votes house leaders can get or maybe more importantly, how many they can spare to lose at this moment. According to cnns count right now, republicans can only afford to lose 21 votes. That seems to be where it is. How many they have, thats a key question. That is tough math. The president is confident the support is there. Here is what he said moments ago after meeting with House Republicans. I want everybody to know that the press has not been speaking properly about how great this is going to be. They have not been giving it a fair press. The press is, in many cases, you know i call it the fake news. Fake news. This is going to be great for people. I watch, i say, thats not the bill were passing. And i also want to note that all of these noes or potential noes are all yeses. All right. Joining me right now, cnn National Politics reporter m. J. Lee has been following this Health Care Bill from the beginning to wherever it stands right now. Cnn Congressional Correspondent Sunlen Serfaty on capitol hill, and tom low bianco joining us as well. You cant call the vote until the last vote is cast, of course. But what are Republican Leaders saying about this . Then well get to what the president is saying now. The fluidity reflects the moment on capitol hill right now. The bill is very much in the deal making stage as leadership and the white house clearly are working to make changes to this bill that they can bring to not only get out of the rules committee where theyll make these changes but bring to the house floor sometime next week. As you know, theyre not going to bring anything to the house floor that cannot pass. So all these little deal making moves and the fluidity of all this really does highlight how frantic things are right now for the leadership to find something that they can pass, to make changes that can be made amenable to conservatives and moderates. As youre talking about Republican Leaders and changes they can make, House Speaker paul ryan is speaking right now at a National Review event. Lets listen to him for a second. That we can make changes that improve the bill, refine the bill. The big pieces are all there. The president , this is where i think he just got off the news, he was meeting with the biggest conservative caucus in Congress Called the Republican Study Committee that you and i cut our teeth in. He worked with them, and theyre all on board, because they, with the president and the rest of us, have been talking about improvements to the bill. Those improvements are being made. Its basically more federalism, making sure we respect the fact that states can experiment and tailor medicaid to meet their needs. As we get through this, what were finding out is, this is an exciting time. And i know whats happening is people are saying, gosh, i wish you had this or that reform in this bill. The challenge for us in the house is, we have to work with the senate rules. And the senate rules are pretty tight on this thing called reconciliation, which means you have to write a bill that cannot be firlibustered. And you cant put everything you want in the bill, otherwise it will be filibustered and it will be a fake vote. We had a lot of bills to repeal obamacare, we dont want to go down that path again. We have a once in a lifetime chance to repeal and replace obamacare. We have to use the senate rules to do that so it cant get filibustered. We proved in the last session we can put a bill on the president s desk repealing obamacare, basically fiscally gutting the law. Weve taken that bill and added replace to it. Because so many of our members, conservatives and everybody in between, including the president , have said do repeal and replace. Dont just repeal it and then have the thing collapse. Repeal it and replace it with patientcentered health care thats market driven, that gives people the ability to go and do and buy what they want in a deregulated marketplace. Im going to push you on various criticisms from all over the map. One is, youre the house, why dont you just produce an internally coherent bill that doesnt necessarily take account of whats going on in the senate or what the senate rules are, and then pass this kind of pure bill, and then let Mitch Mcconnell mess it up later rather than starting out with what for a lot of people feels as though its a compromise of a compromise. Again, the senate rules, this is what a lot of people dont understand how it works, the byrd rule we call it. If they do that, they cant even bring it up in the senate. Chuck schumer can say, this violates the byrd rule, and then it takes 60 votes to even consider the bill. So Mitch Mcconnell couldnt even bring the bill up. If we send a bill from the house that doesnt conform to reconciliation with the byrd rule, the senate cant even consider the bill. They can filibuster even going on the bill. Thats why we have to write this in such a way that Chuck Schumer cant block it from coming to the floor with a filibuster so that Mitch Mcconnell can make sure they vote on the bill and get the bill passed. Remember, this is a threepart plan here, all simultaneous parts. First is a bill that we can use reconciliation for that they cannot filibuster. Thats where you can repeal the individual and business mandate. Thats where you can repeal the spending and the taxes. Thats where you can put in the Republican Health care tax policy, high risk pools, Health Savings accounts, tax credits that equalize the tax treatment of health care. That, the fiscal moving parts we can do in reconciliation. Part two, and tom price just came to our conference two hours ago and walked a lot of our members through the enormous regulatory flexibility that he has. When they wrote obamacare, they wrote this thing in harry reids office on Christmas Eve in 2009. They were going on the fly. And they basically said, boy, theres a lot of stuff we cant figure out, lets let the secretary figure it out. They put 1,142 sections that say the secretary may or the secretary shall. It gives tons of discretion to the secretary of hhs to figure it all out. We didnt think that donald trump was going to be president and tom price was going to be secretary of health and Human Services after obama. What tom price walked us through this morning was, here are all the things we can do using that flexibility in reverse to basically open up the marketplace. I see one of the brilliant state senators we have in wisconsin who [ applause ] who is a nurse and a health care specialist. Wisconsin now because of tom prices regulatory authority, seema verna, they can say, you set up your own Health Care Structure so wisconsin can have whatever plans wisconsin wants to have and republican tax credits, the hsas and risk pools, you can use that for those. So part two is deregulate and have a patientcentered states rights system. Part three are bills that we can pass with reconciliation that make the situation even better but arent necessary to fix the problem, but even better. Thats what interstate shopping, Association Health plans, medical Liability Reform are all about. What the president is eager to do is to crisscross this country, making the case for those policies. And i think it might be interesting to note that hell crisscross in those ten states that he carried widely where there is a democrat up for reelection in 2018. So in a nutshell, if ill just repeat it back for the sake of my own understanding, what youre saying, because of senate rules, we cannot fully deregulate obamacare in this legislation. Thats right. But tom prices administrative actions will be a big step toward deregulation. Thats right. And there are some we can, because theyre tied theyre fiscal moves. If its fiscal policy, you can do it. If its regulatory policy, you cant. Thats the easiest way we can d describe how the rules work. The administration in youre listening to House Speaker paul ryan speaking at a summit in washington hosted by the National Review. Paul ryan still optimistic as to where this Republican Health bill stands right now. When you Start Talking reconciliation, im going to pull out of that event. Lets get to tom lobianco. Paul ryan, tom, said that obviously the president was meeting with the Biggest Group of conservatives, the Biggest Group of conservatives in the house today, meeting with kind of the leaders of the group, the Republican Study Committee, and that theyre all on board. The president in the white house today said everyone in the room that was a no is now a yes. Is that what youre hearing . It might be true for the Republican Study Committee, which is a very important block of conservative republicans. And theyve been kind of on the fence with a lot of this. You have a lot of soft yeses and a lot of soft noes. Thats movement, if hes got them to yes. One of the members in there earlier, representative gary palmer, there was a very Interesting Exchange yesterday on the house floor between House Speaker paul ryan and palmer. Palmer voted against this in the House Budget Committee earlier thursday. And then they talked yesterday, and he said that he understands where the speaker is coming from. So hes listening to him. Its a slog. Getting to 216, your numbers are a little weird here because we have a few members gone, house members in the cabinet now. But thats not really the group that you need to worry about. The group you need to worry about is the House Freedom caucus. Its not this bigger conservative group, the study committee. You have to worry about the smaller, sizable House Freedom caucus, hard core conservative group. It looks right now theyre still solidly no, at least everyone we talk to is no on this. Those are the ones they have to flip. Its not the Republican Study Committee. So m. J. , we also heard from the president , when he was speaking with house conservatives at the white house, that the president said weve made some changes, and thats whats got those who were no yesterday sitting in the room are now a yes. Do we know what changes have been made . Right. So the president didnt actually say what kind of changes he has agreed to and House Speaker paul ryan has agreed to. What we do know are the changes that the Republican Study Committee has been pushing for. So, for example, they would like Medicaid Expansion to go away at the end of this here, go away altogether, not wait until 2020. They want all obamacare taxes to be repealed right away. They also want work requirements for ablebodied adults on medicaid. I know thats a lot of wonkish talk but this goes to show the range of changes they have been pushing for. Also important, if you want to talk about the politics at play, they make these changes, it likely cant pass the senate and its not going to get any moderates in the house on board. Right. If youre reading between the lines, if it is in fact true that President Trump has agreed to some of these changes that the Republican Study Committee asked for, then what happens to the moderates who i mean, especially on an issue like medicaid, theyre already very jittery about the changes in the current bill. And in fact they dont actually want the expansion to go away at all, some of these members. That would be a huge thing for these moderate members who are already on the fence to get on board with. I think sunlen summed it up perfectly as we wrap this up, this is a fluid situation. Were watching it play out as we speak. Sunlen, m. J. , tom, thanks very much. Just a reminder, moments from now, the german chancellor, Angela Merkel, arriving at the white house for one of President Trumps most important facetoface meets so far. Well bring that to you when she arrives. Stand by for that. Plus fierce backlash against the president s wish list budget blueprint which includes doing away with funding that goes to meals on wheels, the national nonprofit. Ill speak live to the president and ceo of that organization to respond to this. I am on a fixed income. I am basically homebound. I havent been out of this apartment in like seven years. How else would i eat . To severe Rheumatoid Arthritis like me, and youre talking to your rheumatologist about a medication. This is humira. This is humira helping to relieve my pain. And protect my joints from further damage. Humira has been clinically studied for over 18 years. Humira works by targeting and helping to. Block a specific source. Of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain and. Stop further joint damage in many adults. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. 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Most allergy pills only block one. And six is greater than one. Break through your allergies. New Flonase Sensimist. Happening remindight now, a look at the white house were the american president and the german chancellor are meeting at the same time for the First Time Since President Trump took office and also the First Time Since their tense phone call over President Trumps travel ban. The stakes could not be higher, considering the National Security and economic challenges facing both leaders, especially when you consider their already checkered past and President Trumps harsh words towards chancellor merkel during the election. Charles hutch en who worked in Foreign Affairs in the clinton and Obama Administrations. Thank you so much for being here. As we look at this and wait for this arrival, there is always a lot of hype around these first meetings. This one might be the one to live up to that hype. How important is this facetoface and this relationship . I think the hype is fully justified, its probably the most important meeting so far and maybe one of the most important meetings of the trump presidency, because german is the leader of the europe. Merkel is really the one who is calling the shots on the other side of the atlantic. Europe is our best partner. And so its really important for trump to carve out a working relationship with merkel. The problem is on european integration, on trade, on nato, on immigration, on climate change, they are really living on opposite planets. The question is can they come into the oval office today and find a way of building a working relationship. What does Angela Merkel need to get out of this meeting and what does the president need to get out of it . America wanmerkel wants to se can work with him, that she can tame President Trump, if you will, and bring him back to the moderate center, someone who believes in nato, europe as americas best partner, essentially to kind of continue the traditions of the post world war ii order. What i think trump will want is, number one, a commitment to increase defense spending, because hes been hammering the allies on that, justifiably, and germany is a laggard when it comes to that issue. On trade, the president ran for election saying weve got to get the Manufacturing Sector going again. There is a trade surplus, germany with the united states. I think that he should look for merkel to say, im going to increase spending on security, increase demand, and therefore increase imports to make our trading balance, our trading relationship more balanced. Those are just two of the big issues that will be facing them. Charles, stick with me, well come back to this after this. L. 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A live look at the white house as we all await german chancellor Angela Merkel coming to meet with President Trump, their first facetoface meeting. The stakes could not be higher, this relationship could not be more important than the time and place were in, in the world of international affairs. Charles kupchan is back with me. Were talking about policy, of course, these issues these leaders need each other on. It must be stated, their difference in style. I heard someone put it this morning, he runs hot, she runs cool. Angela merkel is careful, shes deliberative. He, donald trump shoots from the hip. And he was elected on his brash style. That is going to be on full display today. What are you watching for on this, charles . I mean, youre exactly right. They are oil and water. Shes very steady. Shes very quiet. Shes been in office for a long time as a career politician. President trump is noisy, hes impulsive. And they actually have quite different voter bases. Merkel is trying to consolidate the center against the populists in europe. President trump is essentially catering to the populists. Therefore they have very different audiences that theyre trying to please. And thats why we really are going to have to ask them to try to come together, find a way of working on the key issues. And i dont think its that hard. In some ways, if she increases defense spending, that would also help boost the German Economy and get the trade balance right. There are places where i think the two of them can find common ground. Of course part of this relationship is what has been said in the past. There have been some real mixed messages coming from thencandidate donald trump about Angela Merkel. In one interview he says she is the leader that he most admires. In another moment he says she was ruining germany. These harsh statements that came from donald trump during the election towards the german chancellor, does that matter . Does that impact this german chancellor . It means theyre going to come into this meeting with some baggage. It makes it harder for them to emerge as real partners. Merkel has also said some harsh things about trump, shes criticized the travel ban. I do think even on immigration, the chancellor has sort of backed away. Its her most exposed political flank. But she can work with the president on border control, on screening, on sharing of intelligence. Even though they approach this issue from a very different perspective, there is a place where they can come together. Lets take a brief walk down memory lane, if you will, to show our viewers what were talking about these statements that have been traded in the past between of course in public from donald trump toward the german chancellor. Listen. What merkel is doing to germany is absolutely insane. So well see what happens. Nice woman. I like her. I may have to deal with her. Do you know that she was person of the year . I would have gotten it if she didnt get it. I think we made a mistake in picking her when we should have picked trump. In short, Hillary Clinton wants to be americas Angela Merkel. And you know what a disaster this massive immigration has been to germany. It is a catastrophe. Look at whats happening with germany. The crime wave over there. Merkel is not going to be elected. I think merkel is a really great world leader, but i was very disappointed that when she moved with the whole thing on immigration. I think its a big problem. Who do you trust more if you talk to them . I start off trusting both. But lets see how long that lasts. So with that, charles, do you think, since it clearly exists, people when they meet facetoface have that in the back of their minds at some level, do you think it should be noted at some point today . You know, i think theyre probably not going to air their dirty laundry. But it does put chancellor merkel in a tough spot, because the german public has reacted harshly to President Trumps words. And even though merkel wants to show that she can work with trump, she cant be too close to him because that would be seen as cozying up to someone the german public is not too comfortable with. So she has to challenge him on issues of immigration, for example, but at the same time show that she can work with him and avoid a real breach between berlin and washington. More movement at the white hous house. Well be right back. As we were expecting, it appears right now german chancellor Angela Merkel is arriving at the white house for her first facetoface meeting with president donald trump. Lets listen in. And off they go. The german chancellor arriving for the first time facetoface with donald trump. Charles kupchan, as you were noting, as you see the handshake and they walk in, kind of the relationship, if you want to talk about a close relationship, that would be between the german chancellor and your former boss, president barack obama. That was the closest of relationships by all reports, both privately and publicly. How does that i mean, the german chancellor has worked with many a republican president in her long tenure. How do you reflect on that relationship when you look at where this relationship starts off . Youre right to note, kate, it was a remarkably close relationship. Merkel and obama not only liked each other, they trusted each other. They consulted each other regularly. And it will be difficult for President Trump to rebuild that kind of relationship with merkel, because they are quite different people. On the other hand, they can sort of set the tone for the broader relationship between the white house and the german chancellor. As someone working in the white house under obama, i was in touch with my german counterparts on almost a daily basis. Its important to trump and measuring to merkel to rebuild that, even if they arent close cousins, they can keep the relationship on even keel. Charles, thank you very much, really appreciate you joining me. There will be a joint press conference between the two World Leaders and the president will be hosting a luncheon for the german chancellor today. Well be watching all of that play out throughout the day. Coming up next, more on our breaking news. Republican congressman calling on President Trump to apologize to former president barack obama for his now unfounded claims that president Obama Wiretapped him in trump tower. This of course as the white house is issuing an apology on a different front for creating an international incident. Well be right back. Lots of wrinkle creams believe the more mysterious they sound, the more. Powerful youll think they are. 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It was an emotional moment to happen during last nights messy truth with van jones on cnn. Watch this. I think you should try to put yourself in my situation. And what would you do . As i indicated, i am on a fixed income. I am basically homebound. I havent been out of this apartment in like seven years. How else would i eat . I dont know. I really dont know how i would receive healthy food. And, you know, i used to laugh about the jokes about Senior Citizens eat dog food. I can understand now exactly what theyre talking about. This is the president s budget. Im not sure where the details came from. But i can pretty much assure america, the congressional budget, and when we get into appropriations, meals on wheels is a wonderful program, it is one i would never vote to cut even one dollar. That was congressman chris collins. He is one of President Trumps staunchest supporters defending against cuts in the federal budget there to this Nonprofit Group, of course, meals on wheels, a Nonprofit Group that delivers food to almost 2. 5 million elderly people each year. But President Trumps newly released budget outlines includes such cuts. Here is his budget director defending the move. You cant spend money on programs just because they sound good. Meals on wheels sounds great. Again, thats a state decision to fund that, take the federal money and give it to the states and say, well give you money for programs that dont work. I cant defend that anymore. Joining me now, the president and ceo of meals on wheels america, ellie hollander, thank you for coming in. Full disclosure, i was a meals on wheels volunteer with my mom growing up in indiana, i was just talking to her about our shared experiences this morning with regard to our volunteer work. What was your reaction when you heard the budget director say your program doesnt work . What was your reaction . Kate, first of all, thanks for volunteering, and we appreciate that. Meals on wheels has enjoyed decades of bicameral, bipartisan support from members of congress. Were not used to being in a defensive posture. In fact 45 years ago this month in march, president nixon signed into law the program that enabled senior nutrition programs to be born, thus meals on wheels. These programs work for everyone. They work for the seniors like the woman that you just showed on the clip. Clients who millions of them who rely on meals on wheels every day as a lifeline, as their ability to live out their lives at home, independently, safely, and healthily. Sometimes the meals on wheels volunteer is the only person that senior of course, you done like the wade that he said it. But the budget director when he said he is not wrong when he says the country is in 20 trillion, some 20 trillion in debt. Do you understand the tough chases needed to be made in tough times. Absolutely. Thats why cutting meals on wheels programs doesnt make economic sense. We know that meals on wheels enables seniors to stay out of much more expensive Healthcare Settings such as unnecessary visits to the emergency rooms, admissions and readmissions to the hospital and also premature placement in longterm care facilities. That savings taxpayers millions of dollars annually. It can help reduce falls. We spend 31 billion annually on falls alone and we know that meals on wheels recipients say that knowing that someone is coming to check on them and delivering food, they have less falls. Brown university had a great study in 2012 that said for every state that spent 25 more per seenon on meals on wheels they would notice a reduction in the nursing care up to 20 . That translates to millions of dollars in Medicaid Solutions alone. We dont know exactly where this will end up. This is a budget blueprint, a wish list, if you will, its up to congress to decide where the cuts and money will be. Eli, thank you so much for coming. I appreciate it. Thank you, kate. We have more on the breaking news. The white house apologizing to the uk for what the uk calls ridiculo ridiculous allegations about president obama. Well be right back. Cnn has learned that at least one House Republican believes right now that President Trump should apologize to his predecessor for claiming that president obama wire stand him. I see no indication thats true. Its not a charge that i would have ever made, and frankly, unless you can produce some pretty compelling proof, i think the president , president obama is is owed on apology for that. Because if he didnt do that, we shouldnt be in reckless accusation thats he did. All right. Thats key republican in the house, tom cole. That is an apology that hasnt happened. But the apology that made to the United Kingdom for claims from the Briefing Room on the uk helping spy. Cnn commentator for senator tom cruz. And Political Columnist for the New York Times. John phillips, this is not a white house that apologies, this is not a president that apologizes. When it comes to what happened the incident with the uk, the fact that they have apologized does it tell you its a big deal . As a general rule, i wouldnt make a claim on television and footnote it by citing a guest on the d block on the fox business program. I would try to go in a different direction with that. But we look in a crazy world. This judge in hawaii cited the immigration restrictions so were living in a whole new world. Well see if the apology is coming from the judge. I venture to say no. When sean spicer cited this news report, i think it came in a near eightminute monologue, citing press reports in order to defend President Trumps claim of wiretapping. Listen to this. The New York Times reported the following. Sean hannity went on fox days after the election, heat streh stree street, sara carter reporting we do not we synthesized that for you. Not eight minutes for you. But the fact that in the aftermath he tells the british that spicers comments was unintentional is the reporting that we have. Does any of that seem unintentional to you . Here is the thing i dont understand about what the white house is doing communicationswise. They have access to all kind of primary information, primary sources even just as a newspaper columnist, commentator i wouldnt rely on a commentator as evidence. This may be the position that sean spicer is in. Here is the problem for donald trump. Hes asking his aides and party to choose between being loyal to the president and the truth. You see paul ryan coming out and saying that he cant support the claims. This is going to impact this presidency. Its make or break time. These first 100 days lay the foundation for whether he will be successful as a president or not. If he doesnt start cleaning this up and start acting in a professional manner more and more members of his party will be abandoning him. Tom cole is asking him to apologize to president obama for god sakes. This is day 57. It wont get better. Tom cole knows what hes saying, hes careful with his language. Hes been around for quite some time. Do you think its a sign of things to come . Its not a vote of confidence the way the president and his spokes people are carrying themselves right now. Who republicans who have been around the block realize that the words of the president , of the white house have to land with a certain credibility if the president is going to be successful in governing, if the president is going to be a reliable spokesperson for the country in a moment of actual crisis, or actual intelligence threat that needs to be described. John had that sort of clever one liner about the judge in hawaii. The similarity about the case in hawaii and what were talking about now, is the president and his advisers popped off on twitter and television and the British Government took them seriously and to take them into account for what they said. You said it even better. Its not up to the white house to say dont take us literally. Its others to decide. Right. And its extremely different from the context of a Political Campaign where ultimately its the voters and 46 of the country distributed in the right state to get to decide were going to interpret President Trump in this way. Thats not how it works with the judge or the foreign leader. I want to quick turn amanda, i want to get m. J. Lee, a great reporter, on healthcare. When he was meeting with a group of conservative leaders he said everyone is on board, were making changes, she talked to the freedom caucus, a Smaller Group of conservatives. The announcement that all the rnc are for it doesnt change our group at all. What does it mean for the bill and getting it to the goal line. Paul ryan is putting pressure to get it there. And you dont know how every member will vote until you get there. I think the tax credit and the mandates, if they can make headway, great. If they cant, failure will be the result. I dont failure is an option for donald trump and the members of the house. They have to get a win on healthcare. What will that look like . Will it be true repeal, we dont know. But they have to do something. All the incentives are really aligned and i think the first test will be coming next week. First, of many of votes. But an important one. Thank you guys so much. Thank you for joining us. Inside politics with dana bash today starts right now. Welcome to inside politics. Im dana bash. John king is off. Fridays tend to be sleepily here in washington, members of congress are home in their districts, the white house heads to maralago. But today on the Trump Administration on the healthcare front, they dont have the option of a quiet friday. Theyre trying to scramble to repeal and replace the