Transcripts For CNNW At This Hour With Kate Bolduan 20170328

Actually work on. If they want to move something into the senate that only takes republicans to pass. There are a lot of road blocks in the way, not the least of which that theyve declared publicly, the president himself, that theyve moved on to tax reform, which really isnt that small of an issue to move on to as well. So work will continue. I think the scope of that work and what that actually means Going Forward is still to be determined, because kate, i can tell you, i spoke to the house ways and means chairman, kevin brady, yesterday. Hes one of the authors of this bill. And he made clear, were moving on. So, apparently something in that message has changed, well see how much in the days ahead. And he said its dead. Doesnt get more clear than that. Thank you, phil. Thats one of the big issues they were talking about in this closeddoor huddle between House Republicans. Another big issue facing them when they left that closeddoor huddle is what is the latest and where do things stand with the House Intelligence Committee and their investigation into trump ties, potential trump ties to russia . And also, where does the credibility stand right now of the house intelligence chairman, devin nunes . Manu raju has been following, caught up with the chairman earlier this morning. You want to take a look at this. Were not going to talk about the investigation. If you have any intelligence questions, ill brief you at the proper, appropriate time when we have new information, just like i always have been doing. Which youve almost given. At this time, you are not considering stepping down . Look, id like to answer your question, but i first want to know what the purpose of that would be, because someone asks . I mean, thats not how other leaders in congress are calling for your recusal, saying you have a conflict of interest. Well, what would that be . Help me understand. Their criticism is that youre too close to the white house, you shouldnt have briefed the president last week, and you cant credibly run the investigation. Thats what theyre saying. Okay. Reporter so, whats your response . You guys know the truth to that. You were told you guys know exactly what was said. Were asking you if you feel you have a conflict of interest. I briefed all of you last week many times, so you guys know everything thats going on in this investigation, so i would say just go talk to them and ask them why. Reporter but are you going to stay as chairman and run this investigation . Well, why would i not . You guys need to go ask them why these things are being said. Reporter so, can this investigation continue as you as chairman . Why would it not . Arent i briefing you guys continuously . And keeping you up to speed . So, in other words reporter but theyre saying it cannot run with you as chairman. Youve got to go talk to them. That sounds like their problem. I dont have my colleagues are perfectly fine. They know were doing an investigation and that will continue. Reporter do you think that the committee, that guys, ive got get going. Reporter that the investigation at this point will not be affected by all this, though . Will it change in quality or how it runs . No. Were doing a very thorough job on this investigation. As you know, this russia issue we have been on it for many, many years, and so, well continue to be on the issue. Also [ inaudible ] look, were not going to get into who were going to interview or not interview at this point, unless they publicly come forward, and you know, so, last week when someone publicly came forward, i announced it to all of you. Theres really nothing more, guys. Reporter did your former attorney, mike ellis, was he your source . How many questions are you going to ask . Theres like 20 questions every day. Reporter but mike ellis, your former lawyer, a lot of speculation about whether he was your source. You can continue to speculate. As i told you before, were not going to get into sources, methods, anyone. Reporter but youre ruling out it came from the white house now. I can tell you, just go back and look at the stories that have been written, and you know, i think those are pretty accurate, interviews that i did with cnn, last night on your show, on wolf blitzer. I dont think theres any more questions you can ask. Reporter intelligence source. Can you comment on why the Intelligence Committee meetings were canceled this week . Look, theres no everything is moving forward as is. Im not going to get into internal communications between us and the democrats, but i would go ask them that question and have them tell you. But did you cancel the meeting . Guys, youre going to have to i told you, ive been very fair to brief all of you when theres something to report, but theres nothing new to report. Did the Trump Administration seek to have sally yates not testify . All right, theres devin nunes speaking to manu raju and a slew of reporters in the capitol. Lets go to manu raju live now, following. So, manu, House Speaker paul ryan was asked about this awes well. His take on this, because devin nunes for his part is standing firm. Reporter yeah, he is, and paul ryans standing behind him, only saying no and no when he was asked a question about whether or not mr. Nunes should recuse himself from this investigation or if he knows of the source of that information, this coming after ryans Office Issued a statement yesterday saying they have full confidence behind nunes running what they consider a credible investigation. But notably, also, ryan was nearly an hour late for this press conference, only took four questions, only one on nunes, and of course, that was something that a lot of reporters had questions on, whether or not this Intelligence Committee can move forward. Now, nunes is, of course, signaling that hes ready to move forward, continue as chairman, but there are a lot of questions about whether he can do that and whether the committee can produce a bipartisan report. Kate, also this week, the committee canceling all of its meetings that it planned to have, not just that public hearing that was supposed to also hear the testimony of sally yates, who is a former, of course, number two at the Justice Department, but also private briefing with james comey, mike rogers that was supposed to happen today. Thats not happening. Even their private briefings among the committee itself not happening, all showcasing how tense this committee is, a signal whether they can actually reach any sort of consensus. It is a very, very serious doubt, as they try to figure out, get to the bottom of those ties that allegedly occurred between Trump Officials and russian officials during the president ial election, kate. And the most immediate terms, do you get a sense from nunes or anyone else on the committee or any of your sources that any of these closeddoor meetings or public hearings have been rescheduled yet . Reporter none yet. Now, nunes is an aide told me that they are looking at rescheduling these meetings, but nothing yet, and nunes would not commit to having another public hearing, saying that were looking at trying to reschedule a public hearing with sally yates. Now, of course, theres been a lot of questions about whether or not the white house wanted to actually prevent her from testifying to raise because she was likely going to raise more questions about michael flynn, the former National Security adviser and the communications that he had with the russian ambassador, whether he would have been blackmailed, in her words. We asked nunes directly whether or not they canceled the briefing the public hearing to hear the testimony at the white house request and he said come on, thats not a fair question, its speculation. So, he would not rule that out either. So, more questions about this investigation and whether or not it can credibly move forward, kate. Yeah, thats an important point. He did not ask your question when you asked it very directly. Well get to that new reporting coming out right now. Manu, thank you very much. We are pointing out breaking news the top democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, adam schiff, is now raising questions on if the white house made moves to try to block sally yates, the then acting attorney general who President Trump fired, from testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on the russia investigation. For more on this, i want to go to devlin barrett, a Washington Post reporter who is breaking the news on this very story. Your headline says it all, devlin. You lead it out for me. Trump administration sought to block sally yates from testifying to congress on russia. What are you picking up . So, were told that what happened last week in the runup to this hearing that ended up being canceled was that there was a building tension between sally yates, the former acting attorney general, and the administration over whether or not she would be allowed to discuss the nonclassified details of her discussions with the white house about, you know, the whole controversy surrounding former National Security adviser michael flynn. And basically, what happened was the administration told sally yates that that was considered protected those details were considered protected by executive privilege, meaning she couldnt talk about it in an open hearing. She disagreed, she objected, and last thursday it became clear that yates intention was to tell the committee things about those conversations that contradicted some of what the white house has said about those conversations. And the following day the hearing was canceled. And as i was looking through your article, you also have a letter from her attorney to the white house that i believe was sent over there to friday saying pretty much this, right . Thats right. This is outlined in a series of letters back and forth where yates attorney tries to pin down both pin down the Justice Department and the white house on exactly why they dont want her to talk about these discussions, and at the same time argue that asserting executive privilege for her testimony is inappropriate in this case. That was the argument that yates lawyer made, and it sort of ended up, didnt completely get resolved, because last friday in one of those letters, yates lawyer said, look, if we dont hear back from you guys, were going to assume that we are Going Forward with our testimony. And because the hearing was then canceled, frankly, the white house didnt have to respond at that point or have to sort of throw down a final marker, lets say. So, what has the white house said to you about this . So far, we havent heard an answer from the white house as to why they were asserting the privilege, why they think it applies in this case, particularly to the nonclassified information. Yates position has always been, i can talk about yates can talk about the nonclassified parts of the discussion. But apparently, the white house kept signaling no on that. First the Justice Department delivered that message, and then as the argument went on, the Justice Department said, look, you have to talk directly to the white house. And when yates lawyer engaged in that conversation, the hearing was shut down the next day. All right. Well stand by and see what the white house has to say about this, because were sure theyll be responding in short order. Devlin, thank you very much. I appreciate it. A lot to analyze and discuss right now. I want to go to cnn senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin, joining me on the phone right now. Jeffrey, can you hear me . Yes, i can. Hi. Hi there. This Washington Post report and the top democrat on the House Intelligence Committee raising questions along these same lines. Can you break this down for us . It sounds like, sally yates, she was planning on testifying. If you go along with this reporting, jeffrey, the white house thinks that her communications, soze conversations what she knows, is covered under executive privilege, so she should not have been able to testify. Give me your take on this. Well, first of all, its just important as background that, you know, cabinet and subcabinet officials like sally yates, testify in front of congress all the time. I mean, so, it is unusual, for starters, for them to be stopped for any reason at all. Now, there is the question of executive privilege. That is not the same thing as attorneyclient privilege. You know, lawyers for the government dont have attorneyclient privilege in the same way that if a criminal defense attorney cant talk about what he or she discusses with his client. This is executive privilege, which is a much more difficult concept to define, but it basically protects the internal deliberations of the executive branch, you know, what the president discusses with his advisers in the oval office is something that is generally considered off limits to congressional investigations in court hearings. However, it is usually very narrowly defined, and courts have basically said we are not going to put the whole executive branch off limits because of executive privilege. So, if this were ever to go to court, it would be a very difficult legal question, i think, for the Trump Administration to say that everything sally yates knows about michael flynn, about that investigation, would be off limits. So, i think the white house, if they go you know, if this were ever to wind up in court, would be in trouble. In addition, of course, the broader point is that its a political problem for the white house. It looks like theyre covering something up about russia again. Because as you point out, its one thing to have a difference of opinion between sally yates and her attorney and the white house and the Trump Administration, but then it became pretty much null and void and doesnt even matter because devin nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, he canceled that public hearing. So, he is the one person who can control the guest list, the testimony list, the witness list for these hearings. I want to discuss those political implications right now. Jeffrey, thanks for jumping on the phone. I appreciate it. Jeffrey toobin. Also joining me to discuss all of this and what played out and seems to have really changed in the Political Landscape in the last 15 minutes, senior political analyst mark preston and cnns political director David Chalian joining me now. Theres a lot to get to. Lets start with sally yates. You have the top democrat on intel raising questions about what went on there, because she sought permission, could she not have gotten it . Difference of opinion of what she should or shouldnt have discussed, well leave that to jeffrey toobin. Looking at the timeline, what is devin nunes as the chairmans role in all of this . Again, totally unclear right now because he hasnt been very open about what he learned and where hes going to go with it. In fact, we talk about how a lot of democrats are upset with devin nunes, but here are quotes from three republicans this morning. John mccain, speaking of chairman nunes he has a lot of explaining to do. Susan collins, another republican senator i believe our Senate Investigation has more credibility than the house. Senator Lindsey Graham on another network says i think he has to repair the damage. My belief is that the house is off track and probably cant get back on track. So, when you talk about sally yates, the idea that she could actually testify in public would probably go a long way, but now if shes being blocked, what are people hiding . David, but mark reads those quotes from republicans who have questions and concerns about the credibility and objectivity of devin nunes now, but the one person who really has a say in it is House Speaker paul ryan, and he said definitively hes not going to ask him to recuse. Kate, you know how much house members love when senators across the Congress Weigh in on their own internal matters. Love it. Yes, no, youre exactly right. Paul ryans made clear that hes not persuaded by the mccains, collins, grahams yet, but thats just this morning mark read those quotes from. So, we have to see if those republicans calls stop there with those three republican senators and really do not have much sway with House Republicans, speaker ryan, other members of the leadership, other republicans on the intel committee. Its those voices that we really need to watch to see if they feel. And of course we heard from speaker ryan this morning that, clearly, he doesnt feel that way at all. He feels chairman nunes should continue in the role hes doing and move ahead with the investigation just like chairman nunes said hes going to. And jeremy dimon getting a statement from Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders about the question of sally yates testifying and that hearing being canceled, as we were discussing. Let me just read it, because the white house should have their say in this. This is a statement the Washington Post storys entirely false. The white house has taken no action to prevent sally yates from testifying, and the department of justice specifically told her that it would not stop her and to suggest otherwise is completely irresponsible. So when it comes to that question, one would be led to believe this hearing could be rescheduled and she should be able to testify then, right, david . Well, i think were going to have to parse that statement as we do all white house statements. Taken no action, well, what does that mean . Taki taken no action may mean they did not actually go ahead and assert executive privilege and they didnt want to take that action, but are there other ways in which the white house made clear to sally yates and her attorney that they did not think that her testify out in public would be a wise thing because some of that stuff could eventually be claimed as privilege. We just have more to learn here, but that white house statement at the outset seems very specific. They may not have taken a formal action, but we need to learn more about the way in which they indicated to sally yates, if they did at all, that they didnt want her to testify. And ive got to get going, but i want to point out for our viewers, this hearing was supposed to happen this week. It was canceled on friday. Why . The chairman at that point said they needed to have a closeddoor hearing with the fbi director and the head of the nsa. That actually never ended up happening this week, so there are real questions of what was scheduled what was canceled, and for what reasons. That continues to kind of muddy the waters of what is exactly known and how this committee is going to be moving forward. I just wanted to make sure we all had that at least out there and clear. Mark and david, thanks, guys. Marks going to come back and join me in a bit to discuss some of these issues further. This is also ahead for us. The path to confirmation for the president S Supreme Court nominee getting tougher by the day, it appears. Will republicans use the Nuclear Option, or will democrats turn . One key vote in this is joining me next. Plus it has nothing to do with obamacare, but President Trump today is making moves to try and dismantle one of former president obamas biggest legacy items. Details on that ahead as well. And cnn is on the ground in iraq as the u. S. Investigates now reports that more than 100 civilians were killed in a Coalition Air strike. Is the u. S. To blame . Youre going to see what we found. Well take you there. Wheres frank . Its league night saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico goin up the country. Bowl without me. Frank. im going to get nachos. Snack bars closed. Gah ah, ah ah. Im goin up the country, baby dont you wanna go . Im goin up the country, baby dont you wanna go . Geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. 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They can change the senate rules, essentially, to make it easier to approve his senate confirmation, requiring just a simple majority. Okay, so, joining me now to discuss, very important senator in all of this, democratic senator jon tester of montana. Senator, thanks so much for the time. Its great to be here with you, kate. Thank you. Thank you. A lot of people wondering this very question about you. Are you going to vote to confirm neil gorsuch . Well, look, im still taking input from montanaans. Were still im in the middle of reading an extensive document on some of his decisions and opinions that hes written. So im still in the mix of trying to figure out how im going to vote. I havent decided yet. We will be deciding soon, though, and i think it was very, very instructive. Look, i think i was the second senator to meet with him, asked him a number of questions that he referred to past, present and on and also did kind of the same thing during the hearing, especially as it involves around citizens united, and so ive got to do some more due diligence, make sure im doing the right thing here. I think this is one of the most important decisions a senator will make, and thats confirmation of a Supreme Court justice, but my decision will be coming soon. Ive just got some more work to do. Whats your gut right now . Are you leaning yes or leaning no . It depends on what time of day you ask me that question. So, like i said, well read the opinions, well make sure we know what he has stood for in the past, because i think that will indicate where hes going to make his decisions in the future. And ive really got to tell you, kate, its totally up in the air at this point in time. So, its a procedural question, but it is an important one. Regardless of how you eventually intend to vote, will you vote to allow the nomination to move to the floor for an up or down vote . My vote for the nominee will be the same as it is on the filibuster. I will vote for him in both cases or against him in both cases. So, thats always been kind of the way its been around here. The procedural motions have kind of flowed with how you were going to be on the issue, whether its a person or whether its a policy. And so not necessarily, though. Its one thing to say youre not going to support the nomination, but you will allow for the vote to occur. Ive seen that many times. It has. On various pieces various bills that have come up. Youre right, kate. In my case, though, and theres been a few exceptions, but darn few, i voted the same way on both, because i think youre attached both ways. If you vote yesyes, its much cleaner. If you vote nono, its much cleaner. So, republicans, of course, are threatening to use the Nuclear Option now. Theyre going to change the senate rules. They are threatening to change the senate rules to make it easier. Democrats started down this path back in 2013. They did this with regard to other president ial appointments. Do you regret that now because you might be facing it while youre in the minority . Well, look, i think there was incredible filibusters and stopping the process for the first six years i was here and we were getting nobody across the line. I wish he had done something in 2016, but he made the call and thats the way it proceeded, but remember, we did not apply it to Supreme Court justices or policy decisions, and i think its important. I dont think Mitch Mcconnell wants to change the filibuster. Back in the day when Mike Mansfield was majority leader it was 67 votes. Today its 60. I think the problem has always been, quite frankly, people not coming together, and not to go down a different line with you, kate, but a lot of that has to do with dark money. A lot of it has to do with Campaign Finance reform. It really has created a hyperpartisanship here in washington, d. C. , that we need to fix also. When do you think youll have your decision made . The Committee Votes on monday. Yeah, i think it will probably be around that time. I dont want to nail myself down because i want to be able to take enough time to make sure we do this. And you know, weve been at this for a couple months now, but its been extremely busy here in congress. And so, weve had a lot of work that weve been doing, and i havent been able to devote the time ive nooed needed to really investigate his opinions, but im going to make sure i get that done over the next five to seven days, and then well have a decision. I want to give the guy a fair shake. I want to give him every opportunity to know who im voting for when i cast that vote. Just one quick final question on health care, since its all over the news and its very important. The president tweeted this last night. The democrats will make a deal with me on health care as soon as obamacare folds. Not long. Do not worry. We are in very good shape do you think you can work with this president on a Health Care Bill, if the promise is still to repeal and replace obamacare . I absolutely do. And i hope it happens sooner rather than later. I think its kind of a selffulfilling prophecy to say that obamacares going to go down when the administration can have a lot of effect on that, on its demise. But the truth is, its done a lot of good things. Its got some problems, and i think we need to sit down in a bipartisan way and go to work and fix the problems it has. I think one of the problems with the house bill if the bill says repeal on it, are you going to be able to support it . Well, it depends on what the replacement is. Okay. If the replacement increases access and affordable, darn right, ill be there. If it increases access but not affordability, then weve got a problem. Senator tester, always great to have you. Thank you, sir. Thanks, kate. And whenever you make that decision on gorsuch, youve always got time on my show. All right, thank you. Thank you. Coming up for us, more on the breaking news. The republican in charge of the House Intelligence Committee refusing at the moment to step aside over his questionable actions in the committees investigation into the trump campaigns ties to russia. The House Speaker standing beside him, backing him up. One of the Big Questions right now, who approved devin nunes getting on to white house grounds . That might tell us something. Thats ahead. Wont replace the e of your totaled new car. The guy says you picked the wrong Insurance Plan. No, i picked the wrong Insurance Company. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. 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Instead of spending taxpayer dollars on a pointless wall, we should be investing in creating jobs and fixing our infrastructure, not in separating american families, harming kids, and local economies who are without workers who work so hard. And ive heard from Small Business leaders who are worried that they wont have the workers they need, which gets our economy growing. That was Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer right there. He was responding to President Trumps ask, the Trump Administrations ask for 1 billion to cover the first installment of the border wall between the United States and mexico. That would cover some 62 miles and also some replacement fencing in san diego and the rio grande valley. For more on this, Senior Investigative correspondent drew griffin. Youve been all over this. Youve been digging much deeper into the border wall and the administrations plans and the cost and the reality of it. What does this really mean right now . Well, it means that customs and Border Protection wants to Start Building a wall, really right now, kate. This is money they want immediately to start getting this wall, this promised wall, built. But its a lot of money for a little bit of wall, and we can show you, according to the documents weve obtained, customs and Border Protection says they need 14 miles of replacement fencing in the san diego sector, another 14 miles of new wall in the san diego sector. Thats mostly land that the federal government already loans. But in texas, which you already had up on the screen, they want 28 miles of new levee wall system, so thats a combination of a levee wall and Border Protection, and also six new miles of more border wall in that texas region. Really, this is lowhanging fruit. This is obviously places where customs and Border Protection says it really needs this kind of wall. But its pretty darn expensive when we calculate this out. This comes out to roughly 16 million per mile extrapolate that out and youre surpassing all the estimates that weve seen for the 2,000mile wall. By our calculations, now if you would do this kind of wall everywhere, it would be up in the 32 to 41 billion range. So, it is a lot of money, and obviously, this is the first down payment on President Trumps campaign promise. And already it might become a huge political fight on capitol hill. Chuck schumer saying that if they ask for it, it might lead to a government shutdown, i think. Yeah, well, i mean, theres no doubt about it, that democrats dont want to spend any money on this wall. Obviously, mexico is not paying for this portion of the wall. Right. I dont know if theyll pay for anything else. But also, behind the scenes, kate, theres a lot of Security Officials saying we dont need these walls. At most, we need fences, fences we can see through. And in many parts of this border, we dont need a wall at all because of the terrain and the other things that we already have predator drones, sensor testing, other kind of surveillance activity, that wouldnt require a wall. So, theres going to be a lot of fight over the wall, and especially over the money to pay for it when we see these huge figures. Yeah that price tag is definitely something thats going to get a lot of attention. Drew, thank you so much. Were going to also have more on our breaking news coming up. Anger and frustration is how it was described inside the first meeting of the House Republicans since the Health Care Bill failed. Now there is word this issue isnt going away so quickly. Details next. Time is up new neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair with the proven power of retinol. Reduces wrinkles in just one week. Neutrogena® you need one of these. 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The panel with me now, cnn senior political analyst mark preston is back with me, and cnn political commentators Kayleigh Mcenany and sanders are joining me as well. Donald trump, i think we have to let obamacare go its way for a while. Paul ryan, obamacare is the law of the land. Its going to remain the law of the land. And one of the writers of the bill, this bill is done, this bill is dead, we are going to fection on other issues at this point. That is not what we heard coming out of this first meeting, this first huddle of House Republicans. Whats changed . So, one of two things one is they heard from their constituents who said you ran on this issue for seven years, and donald trump really had this as one of the legs in his threelegged stool or fourlegged stool of what he was going to get accomplished in the first 100 days. It was either constituents, or frankly, republicans had a coming to jesus moment and said you know what, we just cant abandon obamacare. We cant talk about it failing. We need to do something, because a, its the right thing to do, and b, they have to run for reelection in 2018. And c, we have the majority of the house, the senate, and we have the white house. Right. Kayleigh, this is a change from overnight. Yeah, overnight, because even yesterday they were saying they werent going to be talking about it anymore. Do you think this is a better strategy . Because what we were hearing is, next up, tax reform. Next up, infrastructure. I think this is a better strategy. Look, this is what the president ran on. He also ran on tax reform. He also ran on jobs and immigration. But obamacare is something that motivated the formation of the tea party that motivated these conservatives to stand up. So, to abandon it full force and say, look, hey, we didnt get it passed, so now im giving up entirely, its an unpalatable solution and wont win any of these republicans reelection. This was a hard loss on friday, but it was a temporary glip and i love that theyre back at the drawing board and trying to come up with something. Back to the drawing board, but what do they come up with . Because they spent time crafting this bill. Paul ryan came out and said this is the best bill that we have. This is it. Its a binary choice. Its this way or no way at all. Do you think the failure from friday to now has changed any of the political calculus for democrats to get on board with republicans on a Health Care Repeal . Absolutely not. Look, i said this on friday when it failed, republicans are literally in charge of washington right now, and they cannot seem to get anything done. So, i dont think theres any incentive for democrats to jump in the fray and essentially save republicans on this issue. I think that if they want to come back to the drawing board with a plan that builds on the enormous success of the Affordable Health care act, aka, obamacare, maybe some democrats would be willing to listen and come to the table, but the fact of the matter is, that bill on friday was an extreme, extreme bill that did real damage to not just democratic constituents, but republican constituents, people, voters across the spectrum, and that is something that the american people, democrat, republican or independent, just arent going to stand for. So, this does have real implications for 2018, and i dont see how they come out of this clean. Well, and one of the Big Questions i have right now is where is the Freedom Caucus on this . Obviously, they were the conservative group that was kind of the linchpin that many republicans blamed for the failure. The president himself even kind of tweeting that and blaming them. Deirdre wall speaking to one republican coming out of this meeting this morning, said that folks in the Freedom Caucus are probably feeling a lot of heat right now. Feeling a lot of heat is something i think in covering congress, the Freedom Caucus has felt many times. Sure. But they dont often change off their position. Do you think the Freedom Caucus has changed what they believe in where this Health Care Bill should be headed in the last 2448 hours . No, absolutely not, because theyve already won on where they are in their position, so perhaps we could see this bill move a little bit more to the right or more to their liking. Let me just add one more thing that i think might have happened, potentially, is that you talk about infrastructure funding, you talk about tax reform, two incredibly hard things to do. To go back to health care, try to recraft this bill and then try to bring democrats in, and then if it doesnt go through, then to try to blame democrats is probably a better political move than to try to go and try to get an infrastructure bill through thats going to cost an incredible amount of money that will be near difficult, if not impossible, to get done. And we all know that tax reform is such a gigantic thing to do that it probably wouldnt happen. If your conference is saying were not done talking about health care, i dont care if you are, House Speaker paul ryan. Ryan needs House Republicans to work with him to get infrastructure and tax reform through, so youve got to listen to the conference in some way. Symone, were talking about two other issues, that the last we had heard from the white house and everyone else, theyre moving on to. There are reports this morning that they were not only moving on to look at infrastructure and tax reform, but they were talking about tackling both of the items at the same time. Two complications issues to tackle in congress. If you bundle complicated issues, does it make it any easier . No, it doesnt. This just means that the white house absolutely has no clue about what theyre doing. One, if they think theyre going to get infrastructure through and they couldnt even get the Freedom Caucus on board for Health Care Infrastructure costs a lot of lot of money. The Freedom Caucus doesnt want to spend any money, so what makes you think theyre going to vote for an infrastructure bill . I think that the white house look, theyre not asking me, but if they were, i would suggest that they slow it down and they actually get a real plan in place. Democrats, on the other hand, they also have to have some plans in place. We just cannot be against everything that the republicans are doing and point fingers here. We have to bring something to our constituents to the table. And people in the states, people across the country, they would like to see results. I dont think tax reform and infrastructure is going to get done. The people want health care. They like their Affordable Health care act. They like obamacare. They need to build on that success, and i think thats what we need to get done. Wait until tomorrow. Maybe well get a new direction of where the focus is in the house and senate at the moment. Guys, thank you. Well watch this throughout the d day. Cnn is on the ground in iraq as the u. S. Investigates the deaths of potentially dozens of civilians. Is a Coalition Air strike to blame . See what we found on the ground. Well be right back. Deal ever. Its a total gamechanger. So now the whole family can binge,. Surf, shop, navigate, listen, game, stream and more. 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You also see that there are a lot of these really narrow alleyways that wind deeper into the neighborhoods. Thats one of the challenges that the Security Forces are facing. You barely see any civilians, but you see how the areas and how bustling the areas would have been. Part of the challenge when it comes to trying to protect the civilian population is that even though the Iraqi Government did encourage people to stay put in their homes, even if they wanted to leave, they wouldnt have been able to because isis would not allow them to leave these neighborhoods. Isis was Holding Everyone that lived across this entire city as human shields. Hes saying that isis as the force forces were coming through began to decrease its presence so this family felt that they could stay. Thats the other reason why they couldnt go, obviously, because it was very difficult for them to try to flea. The day before this area was liberated, isis took her husband away. They had no food left and he went out to buy food to try to get them some food and isis took him away. Shes still here because shes waiting for her husband whos the little girls uncle to come back. Now shes just hoping that somehow hes going to return home. The people here are trying to get information as to which route may or may not be safe and where there are sniper positions. The sounds of battle are still all around and just in being in this one small part of western mosul, one begins to get a little bit of appreciation for the intensity of the battle. Just how terrifying it must have been for those civilians that were stuck amid this. And how the task of rebuilding this city is going to be. Amazing. Arwa damon is joining me now from iraq. Arwa, what is your biggest takeaway from being back in there on the ground . Reporter it is just how densely populated these areas are, how brutal and vicious that warfare is. There are no rules. Isis is Holding Families as human shields. The iraqis are trying to advance. Air strikes, no matter how precise, can quite possibly cause secondary explosions, cause other buildings to collapse. Plus in the vast majority of cases there are families that are hiding inside these buildings that isis is using as fighting positions, which puts the iraqi Security Forces as they move forward in a very difficult position. They are really going to have to engage as theyre now saying theyre going to and a lot more housetohouse combat if theyre going to try to clear these isis fighters out. Even that will potentially have its toll on the civilian population. In fact, according to the United Nations High Commission for human rights, between the dates that are under investigation both by the u. S. And iraqis, the 17th of march to the 22nd some 22 civilians so far sorry, some 300, more than 300 so far are believed to have been killed. So you really get the sense that after everything the population has been through, under isis for two and a half years, and now really there is no way for a family to know how to keep itself safe. Unbelievable in seeing their faces when you meet those families in western mosul. Arwa, thanks for bringing us the story. Thank you. Well be right back in a moment. You always pay your insurance on time. Tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. What good is having insurance if you get punished for using it . News flash nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. And if you do have an accident, our claims centers are available to assist you 24 7. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™ Liberty Mutual insurance welcome to inside politics. Im john king. President trump takes aim add a major Obama Administration initiative. Rolling back an order that the new president s ep achieve says smothers job creation. For too long over the last several years you had certain industries, certain sectors of our economy within the cross hairs of the epa. These Industries Like the coal sector were under assault and so that is not going to happen anymore. Were going to have a very focused pro growth pro environment message. Democrats disagree with that. Also stoking the partisan divide, the white house vows to choke off federal funds to socalled sanctuary cities. That is a big d