Transcripts For CNNW At This Hour With Kate Bolduan 20170427

Pills, riders that are still in legislation, including those that undermine a womans right to comprehensive health care, undermine dodd franks protections for american consumers, including the Consumer Financial protection bureau, and overhauling the fiduciary role which undermines the commitment we have to investors, especially seniors, so that person advising them is operating in their interests. So, these are all rules that, again, are not in the interest of protecting consumer and individual rights that we are fighting. As you all know, saturdays the big day, the 100th day of the Trump Administration, 100 days of broken promises all right, were listening in to the top democrat in the house, nancy pelosi, in her weekly press conference. Were going to have to monitor it for news and bring you news as it comes. But also right now, we are following breaking news. A brandnew investigation has been launched into President Trumps former National Security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his ties to russia. Newly declassified documents show flynn was warned about accepting foreign payments as he entered retirement from the military. The revelations come from the top democrat on the House Oversight committee, Elijah Cummings. He spoke just moments ago. Listen to this. I honestly do not understand why the white house is covering up for Michael Flynn. I dont get it. After the president fired him for lying. They should be bending over backwards to help us. It does not make any sense, and it makes the American People think the white house has something to hide. I want to bring in right now cnns chief National Security correspondent, jim sciutto, for more on this. How big of a deal is this . Lay it out. I think two big headlines. One that the pentagon is investigating this. In fact, they have been investigating this for some weeks now. Two, that he was warned, that Michael Flynn when he left the military, he was warned that when you, if you were to travel abroad and take money from a Foreign Government or entity, you have to report it. And Elijah Cummings there saying that theres no proof that he did that. This belies the statement of flynns lawyer, who said that they discussed this, they got permission from the Defense Intelligence agency when they left, from the military when they left. It doesnt appear that there is proof of that. So, thats a major issue, and it also fits in a constantly changing story from flynn on a number of levels, going back a number of months. Initially, he said there was no payment. Then he said the payment didnt come from russia, it came from my speaking agency, which is really just a middleman in all this, but there are documents. Weve seen these documents that show that russia routed that payment right to him through the speaking agency. And then he had said, listen, i got permission to do this, i let them know. Now elijah customings saying thats not true, either. So, a changing story and each of his defenses have been undermined by the facts. Yeah. Do you get a sense right now from your sources of what this means for the broader russia investigation, how it fits in . Well, listen, you have so many strands that are in that broader investigation thats exactly right. One of which is, you know, was there collusion . Was there cooperation between russian officials and members of the Trump Campaign during the campaign, specifically with releasing documents, et cetera, stolen emails from clinton, et cetera. Thats one line. So, this is separate from that, but it does speak to a larger issue here, which is connections between people close to trump and russia. In this case, not only a professional connection meetings, that famous photo of flynn next to the russian president but also taking money from a Foreign Government, and not just any Foreign Government, but a Foreign Government that you cannot describe as anything but an adversary, and this was happening, you might add, while russia is actively interfering in the u. S. Election, the intelligence committee, has determined to benefit donald trump. Now, a lot of pieces there. Theyre connected somewhat, but there are separate lines. You have the senate, the house, you have now the Defense Department looking at flynn. You have a number of entities looking at this, and we dont know where yet all of those strands are going to lead. Hence why those investigations are under way and needed. Jim, great to see you. Jim, thanks so much. Thank you. I want to bring in democratic congressman jim heinz of connecticut, member of the house intelligence committee, the committee taking the lead on the russia investigation weve been talking about. Congressman, thanks for coming in. Hi, kate. So, Michael Flynn warned about taking foreign payments. With what weve just learned from jim sciutto, from Elijah Cummings, in your mind, does that prove that he broke the law . Well, its not yet clear. And look, we need to be deliberate in how we talk about these investigations. You know, its not clear that somebodys broken the law until theyve been convicted by a jury. Thats the way our system works. But one of the reasons why we have this investigation, both in the house and the senate, is because this is just another set of questions about behavior that sure looks awfully inappropriate, that you know, absent a trial or the conclusion of an investigation looks really bad, and of course, looks like there were attempts made to cover it up. And of course, if there were attempts, and we know why the white house said they fired Michael Flynn, if there is a pattern of being dishonest, if youre an investigator, as i am, the question is, why . What is being covered up . And of course, again, i dont want to go as far definitive tleey say laws were broken. Thats not what we do around here, but it does indicate why these investigations are important. When you talk about coverup, Elijah Cummings said clearly today that in his words, he doesnt understand why the white house is covering for flynn after they fired him. Do you see evidence that the white house is covering for Michael Flynn . Well, remember, im not on that committee, so i wasnt party to the request for documents that the oversight but i know youve probably seen more than that committees seen. Yeah, but not necessarily related to Michael Flynns conversations with dia or his sf86 form. This is, of course, something that will be part of our investigation, but i do want to make clear look, weve all seen the letter where the white house says were not giving you documents that you requested with respect to Michael Flynn. That strikes me as the wrong approach, especially since this guy is in the past, no longer associated with the white house. It seems to me the way to put this story behind you as rapidly as you can would be to say, heres everything, have a look, and theres nothing there, assuming that there is nothing there. Well, and thats the thing, congressman, the white house what it seemed we heard from the white house yesterday is these are not documents that they would have. This is not any information that they would have. Jason chaffetz even seemed to leave it open that they might not be this might not be on the white house. They might not be stonewalling. They might not have any documents to share. Do you leave open that possibility . Well, that is a possibility, of course, but we should if thats the definitive answer, we should hear that. Okay. Of course, the question about how he filled out his sf86 form, if he intentionally, on purpose, decided to leave off the information that he left off, that is, in fact, a crime. And so, if there are emails that indicate, should i do this, should i not, that is relevant to the question of whether this was just an inadvertent omission or whether this was deliberate. Well, and kind of to that point, its another like this was a secret meeting. He didnt hide this visit. There are pictures of him sitting next to Vladimir Putin that weve seen many a time. Is this on the white house or just on Michael Flynn . Well, you know, look, i think its incumbent on the white house, considering that this continues to be a very significant question in the eyes of the American Public to come clean and say heres what we have, this is all we have, this is the deal. Of course, other organizations like my own, perhaps Law Enforcement will conduct their investigations with an eye to finding out whether laws were broken, but really, it would be very much in the white houses selfinterests at this point to say heres all we have, were cooperating, were on your team, not that were going to sort of try to, you know, either defend Michael Flynn or hide documents. That, of course, just creates the perception that there is something to hide. But also on the point and there are so many elements to this, threads to this, that for the folks watching at home, it is often hard to keep track of. With this security clearance application, this form that were talking about here, does what were learning today, does this offer any more clarity, in your view, about connections between the Trump Administration and the Trump Campaign, trump associates, and russia with regard to any possible collusion over the election . Yeah, thats a good question, and remember, were now back on track with the investigation in the house with the assumption of the leadership role by mike conway of texas. Were back on track. Were planning hearings and meetings. So, we had that threeweek period where everything kind of ground to a halt because of all of the strangeness associated with the chairmans activities. So, its a little early now to say that this is definitive one way or another. What it does is, is it joins the material that simply raises very pointed questions. Were not at a point where we can say we have the answer to the questions. We are back on track, but boy, it does raise some questions. So, carter page. Thats another person whos name is out there, congressman. I want you to listen what he said this morning on new day about what the Trump Campaign knew about his trips to russia. Did you coordinate or communicate the details of your trip or that you were going with any member of the Trump Campaign or administration . I never again, none of those details they knew i was going, but nothing was how did they know . It was again, i dont talk about internal discussions. But it matters. It matters, because the suggestion is they knew you were going. If they knew you were going, they must have had an interest in you going. If they had an interest in you going, did they coordinate anything that you said there, which was inherently destructive to american policy . Absolutely not. Nothing i said was destructive to american policy, chris. So, in that conversation, congressman, he says, page says that the campaign knew he was going to russia. Is that news to you . Does it matter . I think it does matter. You know, ive run five campaigns in my political lifetime and if somebody who is working for me came to me and said, hey, im taking this trip to russia for any reason, i wouldnt have to think for much more than about two milliseconds before the answer to them would be, no, youre not. So, again, what we were talking about before, this raises questions. Why did the Trump Campaign think it was okay for carter page to go to russia . At the minimum, that looks terrible, but what else was there . Do you guys have a firm date, before i move on to something else, do you have a firm date set yet for rescheduled testimony from sally yates and James Clapper . So, were working that through. We actually just scheduled a meeting that was postponed several weeks ago, the closed meeting with comey and rogers of the fbi and nsa. As you know, sally yates is scheduled to testify over on the senate side, so were in the process of seeing if we cant either do that jointly or find some way to do that in a way that is efficient for all of us. Okay. Do you think it would be before that senate may 8th hearing . I dont think it would be before that hearing, just logistics make that problematic. Okay. Congressman, i want to talk to you about the possibility of a Government Shutdown. As we woke up this morning, it seemed that that possibility the Government Shutdown was now not going to happen, that there was agreement on how things were going to move forward, at least in the short term while details were being worked out. But i was just handed some information coming from a statement from the number two democrat in the house, steny hoyer. Let me read you what hoyer wrote. If republicans announce their intention to bring, in his words, their harmful Trumpcare Bill to the house floor tomorrow or saturday, i will oppose a oneweek continuing resolution. Hell oppose the funding extension and will advise House Democrats to oppose it as well. Are you on board with that . Well, first and foremost, i think its very improbable that the republicans would do that. The Health Care System is some 17 of our economy, and the idea that theyre going to cook up a bill after the last one failed and bring it to the floor without any hearings, without any debate, without any preparation, without their own people even being able to fully understand what this thing involves i think is very, very improbable. Look, i think were pretty close on a deal to keep the government open. It seems that we have a clean bill without any of the wall or other sort of poisonous riders that were going to make it problematic. So, my hope is that at this point, the republicans do the smart thing, which is, look, lets keep the government open and lets live to fight another day and have that conversation, which by the way, i am so excited to have on what it is that they intend to do to the Health Care System and what that would actually do to the American People. But i think they would be really wise to not let those two issues get blended this week. Well, and also, i mean, you dont agree with steny hoyer, then, right . You dont think democrats should be threatening to hold it up either, right . You know, i havent talked to steny about it and i dont know that theres any probability that the republicans will, so im going to sort of withhold judgment on what happens in the next 24 hours. I just the idea that the republicans remember, whatever you think about the Affordable Care act, the democrats took some nine months or so of debate, of town hall meetings. I had 14 Health Care Town Hall meetings of amendments and hearings. The idea that with 24 hours, a Government Shutdown looming, thats almost absurd on the face of it. Okay. Congressman, thanks for coming on. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thanks, kate. Moments from now, House Speaker paul ryan will be talking to reporters. Well see what he has to say about all of these new developments coming out this morning. Plus, critics pouncing already on the president s wish list for tax cuts, saying, his critics saying that it benefits his own bank account and his wealthy friends. What does it mean, though, for the middle class . What we know and what we dont about, as theyve described it, the biggest tax cut in american history. Well discuss. Ways to manage. I thought i had it covered. Then i realized managing was all i was doing. When i finally told my doctor, he said humira was for people like me who have tried other medications,. But still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohns disease. In clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. And many achieved remission. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers,. Including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions,. And new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb,. Hepatitis b, are prone to infections,. Or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. If youre still just managing your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. Wont replace the full value 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. Switch and you could save 509 on auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Come close, come close. Fun in art class. [ music stops suddenly ] ah. When your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. Awww. Try this. For minor arthritis pain, only aleve can stop pain for up to 12 straight hours with just one pill. Thank you. You cant quit, neither should your pain reliever. Stay all day strong with 12 hour aleve. Check this sundays paper for extra savings on products from aleve. Hes a nascar champion whos shes a worldclass swimmer whos stared down the best in her sport. But for both of them, the most challenging opponent was. Pe blood clots in my lung. It was really scary. A dvt in my leg. I had to learn all i could to help protect myself. My doctor and i choose xarelto® xarelto®. To help keep me protected. Xarelto® is a latestgeneration blood thinner. Thats proven to treat and reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots from happening again. In clinical studies, almost 98 of patients on xarelto® did not experience another dvt or pe. Heres how xarelto works. Xarelto® works differently. Warfarin interferes with at least six bloodclotting factors. Xarelto® is selective. Targeting just one critical factor, interacting with less of your bodys natural bloodclotting function. Dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor as this may increase risk of blood clots. While taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. It may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. If youve had spinal anesthesia, watch for back pain or any nerve or musclerelated signs or symptoms. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures and before starting xarelto® about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Youve got to learn all you can. To help protect yourself from dvt and pe blood clots. Talk to your doctor about xarelto®. Theres more to know. Were now just two days from the first major benchmark of the donald Trump Presidency, the white house up against the clock and looking for wayne. Could it be health care . Could it be taxes . Could it be trade . What it appears right now is it wont be, at least at this moment, it wont be a wall, not now, anyway. Just moments from now, House Speaker paul ryan will be speaking with reporters, and were going to bring that to you live, but right now, lets get straight to cnns sunlen serfaty. Shes on. Caller hicapitol hill with e latest on a couple fronts. Whats the latest on the tax front . Reporter kate, its interesting, the white house certainly making a big todo about putting out their proposal yesterday, but what amounted to essentially a onepage tax cut plan that continues to have some fallout up here on capitol hill, many people bringing up that its short on details, falls well short of the more comprehensive tax reform proposals that theyd like to see, and Republican Leadership, of course, embracing some sort of proposal from the white house, but specifically calling it something that will serve as guideposts going forward. Obviously, the heavy, heavy lifting still to come. And we just and do you have anything more about what we were just what just came in, this breaking news about health care and what steny hoyers saying . Reporter yeah, this is an interesting move coming from democrats this morning. In essence, laying down a big threat that certainly complicates two major hotbutton issues right now, health care and keeping the government open and funded. Democrats really trying to stave off republicans trying to jam through this Health Care Bill, as they are having some momentum. There is a push certainly from the white house to hold a vote on health care, potentially even before saturday, and they are getting more republicans on board this week. But democrats, led by steny hoyer as the minority whip, now are saying, look, if youre going to hold a Health Care Vote before saturday, you are not going to have democrats get on board with this shortterm cr, the continuing resolution to keep the government funded for another week. So, complicates things up here. We will certainly hear more from this from speaker ryan, who will hold his press conference in just a few minutes. Complicated. Its that kind of status for capitol hill right now. Good to see you, sunlen. Thank you so much. Joining me now, republican congressman leonard lance, moderate member of the tuesday group, at the center of the contract negotiations. Senator, thank for coming in. Thank you for having me, kate. All right, so, it is thursday at 11 21. Where is your vote on health care right now . I am not in favor of the proposal. I was not in favor of it before the easter break, and im not in favor of it today. I think we need to lower premiums in this country, but i dont think this bill does that. And i would urge our democratic colleagues to come to the table, because the exchanges are not doing well, kate, and i think that theres a responsibility for both sides to come to the table, and that includes the democrats. Congressman, what do you think of this threat were just hearing from the democratic whip, steny hoyer, that democrats say hoyers urging democrats to oppose the vote to keep the government funded if republicans were to bring a vote on health care this week . I think theyre two separate issues, kate, and i did not favor shutting down the government when president obama was president , and i would hope the democrats dont favor shutting down the government now that President Trump is president. There are essential Public Services that are required to be funded, for example, payment of the troops in the field. And so, i would hope that we could vote on a continuing resolution. And then regarding the health care issue, ive given you my point of view, but i think they are separate issues. What do you think the chances are that republicans will call a vote in the next two days . Im not part of the whip team and im not part of leadership, so i do not know and i would defer to speaker ryan on that matter. But certainly, i think first and foremost, we have to fund the government, and that is a hard deadline this weekend. So, congressman Tom Macarthur, a fellow republican and also a fellow republican from new jersey, hes been kind of spearheading some of the negotiations for this new amendment. Here is how he describes what theyre working on this morning. Listen to this. Well, my goal has been to try to get everyone who was struggling with this bill to get to yes. And the only way to do that is to balance these two things bring costs down for people and make sure we protect the vulnerable people. He says thats whats in the amendment. Where is he wrong . Im sure the congressman is trying to work to that end, but i do not think that the amendment achieves that goal, and certainly, i have always run for reelection on the belief that we have to preserve the right of people to have health Care Coverage, even if they have a preexisting condition, and i think that should be true across the united states, and i do not think that states should have the ability in any way to waive out of that. I think there is a right in this country to be able to Purchase Health Care Coverage at an affordable cost, accessibility and affordability, and i think that is true for those with preexisting conditions in our society. Macarthurs a member of the tuesday group, and he went and made this deal on his own. Do you feel cut out . Im a member of the tuesday group, but nobody negotiates for me, kate, and im of the belief that we should move forward in this area in a bipartisan capacity. Do you think that how this is going, do you think it threatens to break up the tuesday group . No, i dont believe that that will happen, and i will continue to be a member of the tuesday group, and our real leader is congressman dent, my colleague and close friend from pennsylvania. What do you think the chances are that this version of the bill, though, sees a vote . Whats your cut . I dont want to guess. Im not sure when that will occur, but i think first and foremost we have to fund the government of the united states. So, you would if democrats would hold up health care with regard to funding the government, you would support not bringing a vote on health care in order to keep the government open, yes . I think its in the discretion of speaker ryan when that bill on health care is brought to the floor. Okay. And i do not presume to advise the speaker. I think its extremely important, essential that we fund the government of the united states, and i would urge my democratic colleagues to vote for that. Congressman leonard lance, thank you so much, congressman. Appreciate the time. Thank you, kate. We are following more on our breaking news. The pentagon had warned President Trumps now former National Security adviser against taking foreign payments, payments that lawmakers say he never reported, which he was required to report. Details on that ahead. Plus, moments from now, House Speaker paul ryan will be facing reporters. Many people are waiting to see what he has to say on a slew of topics, the president s tax plan, where health care stands right now, and also, is the government now again being threatened that its going to shut down this weekend . Where do things stand . Look to the speaker for some answers. Well be right back. I joined the army in july of 98. Our 18 year old was in an accident. When i call usaa it was that voice asking me, is your daughter ok . Thats where i felt relief. Were the rivera family, and we will be with usaa for life. We asked people to write down the things they love to do most on these balloons. Travel with my daughter. Roller derby. Now give up half of em. Do i have to . This is a tough financial choice we could face when we retire. But, if we start saving even just 1 more of our annual income. We could keep doing all the things we love. Prudential. Bring your challenges. I love hanging out with my friends. I have a great fit with my dentures. I love kiwis. Ive always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. Super poligrip free. It creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. Even well fitting dentures let in food particles just a few dabs of super poligrip free is clinically proven to seal out more food particles so youre more comfortable and confident while you eat. Super poligrip free made even the kiwi an enjoyable experience try super poligrip free fmy doctor recommended ibgard. Abdominal pain and bloating. Now im in control of my ibs. Nonprescription ibgardcalms the angry gut. Naftas been very, very bad for our country. Its been very, very bad for our companies and for our workers, and were going to make some very big changes or we are all right that was President Trump from last week, but were going to head right over to capitol hill where House Speaker paul ryan is holding his weekly news conference. A whole lot of questions for him, as always. It seems its becoming a regular thing. Lets listen in. Welcome to all of our special guests today. I think its great to see you here and its great that you get to see the work your parents do, but dont tell them this, but theyre actually kind of good at their jobs. Are those your daughters . Oh, my god, so cute. We had one last year with us, i think. Oh, very cool. Okay, i digress. Sorry. Later today, the president will sign an executive order to approve accountability at the va. Under the Obama Administration, not nearly enough was done to hold bureaucrats accountable for failing veterans at our veterans affairs. Despite promises to clean things up, only a smattering of people were moved out of their jobs, only a smattering of people were held accountable. Last month, the house passed the va accountability act to make it easier to bring the kind of steady leadership that Va Medical Centers so desperately need. And last week, the president signed legislation to reduce outofpocket costs for veterans and to promote better access to care. These are all very positive steps to deliver the kind of fundamental reform that is needed at the va. This adds to what has already been a very incredibly active first 100 days. Under the president s leadership, we have cut red tape at record levels. Cutting red tape saves families dollars, it saves businesses jobs. In fact, we have saved families and businesses more than 67 billion just already. Yesterday the administration put out its principles for pro growth tax reform. Thats the next step toward overhauling our tax code. And we continue to make Real Progress in our work to repeal and replace obamacare. As you saw, we posted amendment to the American Health care act yesterday. This amendment was the result of constructive conversations among our members that focused on how we can do more to lower costs for everyone. What this amendment does is it gives states more flexibility and tools to reduce premiums and increase choices, and it does this while maintaining and preserving protections for people with preexisting conditions. This is the important point. Those protections remain in the books, even as we add new ones. The goal here is to give states greater flexibility, if they want it, to lower premiums. We have not yet made any decisions on a vote, but this is more progress, and we will continue our progress as our work to repeal and replace obamacare. Now, i am certain some of you have questions. Are there any young people who actually have questions . [ laughter ] yeah, manu, youre not cutting no bar. No, sorry all right, anybody else have any questions . [ inaudible question ] what are your reassurances to moderates who [ inaudible ] well, i think were making very good progress. Were going to go when we have the votes, but thats the decision well make when we have it, and something tells me youll be the first to know when that happens. I would argue that this is a bill that a moderate would more likely want to support. Some people were concerned about ehbs. Ehbs were taken out of the bill essential Health Benefits were taken out of the earlier drafts of the bill. Theyre now put back in. So theyre in the federal law, and a state would have to find a waiver for essential Health Benefits. So, if anything, this puts more federal protections in on preexisting conditions. Every states a little different. In wisconsin, we had a highrisk pool that worked really well, and i think we ought to be given the kind of flexibility to tailor our markets that work for us in wisconsin, because the wisconsin Health Care Systems different than say the new york Health Care System or the vermont Health Care System. That just makes sense. But even if a state gets a waiver, there are multiple layers of preexisting condition protections, like continuous coverage. If you have a Health Care Problem and you have health care insurance, you cant be denied or raided for Higher Health care costs, and if you switch your plan, you keep your coverage, the same protections apply, even if your state gets a waiver. But the more important point i think is why this amendment i think is a step in the right direction is we believe the smarter way to go on getting premiums down and protecting people with preexisting conditions is having federal and state support for people who are sick, support that catastrophic illness with greater subsidies so that everybody else doesnt have to bear those costs in their insurance pools. 1 of the people in the individual market drive 23 of the costs. So, if we directly support that catastrophic coverage, its sort of reinsurance on top of insurance, then youre lowering everyone elses prices. Youre making it easier for people to afford Quality Health insurance, and youre guaranteeing that that person who has Catastrophic Health care costs, that person who has a preexisting condition or gets really sick gets the coverage that they need. We think its a really good step in the right direction. Were having very productive conversations with our members, and we feel like were on the right track, and well announce when we have a vote when were going to go. [ inaudible question ] we want to go when were ready to go, and were having this this has been a very organic, bottomup process. It takes time to do that. Were doing big things. And you know me, i talked about 200 days because i thought the kind of agenda that were attempting to put together here, overhauling health care, overhauling the tax system, rebuilding our military, securing the border, those take more than just a few months. They take a long time, at least a year. And so, thats why were working on the path to get it right and not constrain it to some artificial deadline. Nancy. [ inaudible question ] but it is still unaffordable for a lot of other people. No, it was actually pretty darn good, but this will add federal funding to it now. So, think of high risk pools. There were states that had high risk pools, that had reinsurance mechanisms or risksharing, like the maine plan. None of them had any federal funding to it. None of them had any federal resources. This takes that idea and adds federal resources to it to make sure that it works even better. And hh slnk coordinate with those states to make sure they have good mechanisms in place. So, we have seen states wyoming had a good one, utah had a good one, Washington State had a good one, maine had a good one, we had a good one. They work. And now that were going to be adding federal funding to it, theyll work even better and youll be able to lower prices even more. [ inaudible question ] preconditions that they wont be worse off than people will be better off with preexisting conditions under our plan. Thats the whole goal, is to make it easier for people the problem with obamacare is people get one choice, at best, in a third of all the counties in america. Five states, youve got one plan to choose from. Thats not very good to have just a monopoly giving you health insurance. Our job here is to make sure that people get more choices, and by getting more choices, you can get better Quality Health insurance and lower prices, and we preserve those protections for people with preexisting conditions. Thats the goal of this bill. Thats what this bill achieves. And we think its going to be a big improvement on the status quo, which is collapsing before us. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Steny hoyer and democrats say that they will uhoh. I was just repeating what she was just saying, not what you said. Democrats are saying that they will withhold votes for a funding bill. Will you press forward on a vote this week on obamacare repeal. Whats your thoughts on that . Could you fund a bill without democrats i am shocked that they would want to see a Government Shutdown, that the democrats would want to do that. Lets take a step back. The reason why this government funding bill is not ready is because democrats have been dragging their feet. Periodically they havent even shown up for negotiations. So, the reason we need an extension in the first place is because democrats dragging their feet. Even if we get an agreement, lets just say in ten minutes, we simply cant process the paperwork that long, and we have a threeday rule. People need to be able to read the bill. So, it inevitably under any scenario or circumstance requires a shortterm extension, and im confident well be able to pass a shortterm extension. And id be kind of shocked that the democrats would want to create a Government Shutdown because they have been dragging their feet. Yeah, casie. Back to health care for a moment. With all the changes that youve made that have led to Congress Getting on board, should this be an easy yes vote . Yes, Tom Macarthur is the leading moderate in congress. Its his amendment. So, this is [ inaudible question ] well, i dont know if thats the case. I would say Tom Macarthur, who actually has an entire career working in insurance, understanding the math and the mechanics and actuarial science of insurance has come up with an amendment that we think works very well and it gets to where we all want to go. We want to bring down costs, preserve preks for people with preexisting conditions, and we want to respect the fact that states, you know, have different issues, Different Health care marketplaces, and we want to give states greater flexibility so that they can get the maximum reduction in policies and premiums and so that we can get the best possible Health Care System. What weve learned is a cookie cutter one size fits all Health Care System doesnt work for america. Its a diverse country. Different states have different rules and different systems. We need to respect that, and thats what this macarthur amendment does. Hes one of the leading moderates, cochair of the tuesday group, good shot archer, right . Hes one of the leading shot sorry. It with a good shot. Pretty cool. Hes one of the leading members of the tuesday group, so i think this is basically a coalescing thing. [ inaudible question ] i think people risk if we dont do what we said we would do. We all campaigned on repealing and replacing this law that is collapsing. The Health Care System in the individual market is in peril right now. We have a moral obligation to prevent people from getting hurt to stop damage from being continued, and we promised that we would do this. If you violate your promise, if you commit the sin of hypocrisy in politics, thats the greater risk, i think, to a persons seat. Dude in the back. On the subsidies, you have said that the administration should begin those payments. You, in fact, sued the Obama Administration for that exact thing. Omb is saying that this is an issue that Congress Needs to deal with. You said you didnt want to deal with it in the spending bill. Whats the future of these, because it seems like the white house and House Republicans are on different pages on how that funding will be well, were in litigation, so i wont go into deep details of that, only that its a difference between the separation of powers. So, were in existing litigation, and the white house, the administrations been making those payments while thats pending, which is still pending. I think the white house has already made comments on this, and ill just leave it at that. I wont speculate on where i dont know what the outcome is going to be. House oversight ill go back to you next. Jumped in front of you. The House Oversight committee has documents showing [ inaudible ] Michael Flynn. Im wondering, do you believe he may have broken the law, number one . And number two, are you concerned about the white houses vetting procedures in actually hiring him . I dont know whether he did or did not. Thats why we have an investigation. This i see is part of our ongoing investigation, over at hink pc as well. Well wait until that decision. Im noting to prejudge. Should the benefits be extended permanently . I wont get into like Consol Energy i do believe these Health Benefits should be extended. Im not going to insert myself into ongoing negotiations appropriators are having about the length of that. Last question. The foundation, the estimates of tax reform, tax cuts [ inaudible question ] but one of their assumptions is that theres no crowdout effect from rising debt for that. And so, im curious as to whether, people in the past have said [ naudeible ] will have a drag. Its all about Interest Rates, jonathan. I think under most models, you assume a normalization of Interest Rates will occur. The question is do Interest Rates go above their normal rates or do they go higher because of debt and deficits crowding out investment . I do believe that we have to have fiscal discipline in addition to Economic Growth. You know me well. I think that means reforming our entitlement programs. I think passing this Health Care Bill, which helps go at lowering the cost of health care, is extremely important if youre going to lower fiscal exposure, if youre going help close the debt. One of the biggest drivers of our debt is the high cost of health care and inflation. So, if we can have a patient Health Care System that is restored by reviving the individual market, thats one of the greatest things we can do to bring down High Health Care costs and close the debt and the deficit. So, i do believe you have to have comprehensive entitlement reforms along with pro growth legislation, like tax reform to get the best of both worlds, which is getting the debt under control, getting people back to work, and getting fast Economic Growth that gets us better revenues. That was the last one . Okay, ive got its my turn to ask a question. How many junior reporters do we have here today, including photographers . Okay. Why dont we all get a photo, all right . Where do we do it . Is this where nancy did it, over here . All right, House Speaker paul ryan on take your kid to work day. Its one of his favorite days, because all the reporters, some of the reporters have their children with them. Just that is noteworthy, taking the photo right there. Were going to talk about what House Speaker paul ryan made news on in a couple fronts, but i also want to take you now to the white house, where moments ago President Trump was speaking during a meeting with the president of argentina in the oval office. We are waiting for that video to come in. We will be getting to that in just one second. As were looking, though, just take a moment and enjoy it. House Speaker Paul Ryan having a moment with some of the kids who are the children of the reporters on capitol hill. And funs over. Lets get back to the white house right now. Here you go. Tell me how we came about the decision . Well, i was going to terminate nafta as of two or three days from now. The president of mexico, who i have a very, very good relationship, called me. And also, the Prime Minister of canada, who i have a very good relationship, and i like both of these gentlemen very much. They called me, and they said, rather than terminating nafta, could you please renegotiate . I like them very much. I respect their countries very much. The relationship is very special. And i said, i will hold on the termination. Lets see if we can make it a fair deal, because naftas been a horrible deal for the united states. Its been very good for canada. Its been very good for mexico, but its been horrible for the united states. And if you checked my campaign, any of my speeches, i said, i will either renegotiate or ill terminate. So, they asked me to renegotiate. I will. And i think well be successful in the renegotiation, which, frankly, would be good, because it would be simpler. But we have to make a deal thats fair for the united states. They understand that. And so, i decided, rather than terminating nafta, which would be a pretty big, you know, shock to the system, we will renegotiate. Now, if im unable to make a fair deal, if im unable to make a fair deal for the united states, meaning a fair deal for our workers and our companies, i will terminate nafta. But were going to give renegotiation a good, strong shot. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right, President Trump right there with the president of argentina in an oval office visit speaking about nafta, the north American Free trade agreement. A lot to discuss, what were hearing here as well as what were learning on capitol hill. Lets start the conversation. Cnn Global Affairs correspondent elise labott is here first. So, on nafta, my question to you before hearing this was, where is the president . Because it was, were threatening to pull out of nafta right. Now were going to regoernt it. Where does it stand now . It sounds like hes standing with both. Well, i think this is vintage President Trump. I mean, i dont think the canadians or the mexicans thought that President Trump would really pull the u. S. Out of nafta. It has been renegotiated about 11 times since it was first instituted, and it does need every few years some kind of updating for modernization, for cyber things, for job creation. And when you talk to mexican and canadian officials, i dont think anybody really thought that President Trump would pull out, because it is a shock it would abe shock to the system. Yes, the u. S. Has lost some jobs to mexico, to canada, but the jobs that its created. The u. S. Chamber of commerce says that because of this trade and integration, that has created about 14 million jobs. And so, mexicans and canadians have a lot of leverage here. They also have about 584 billion in u. S. Exports. And so, i think that they thought he would always arrive at some kind of renegotiation, and you know, they say theyre ready to go. Its very interesting how this is playing out right now. Jen psaki, let me bring you in on this, as you worked in both the Obama State Department and in communications with the obama white house, of course. What do you think of the president s position on this, this negotiating tactic . Well, its not a surprise. He talked about this on the campaign trail. There are a lot of haters of nafta, including many democrats. As elise already touched on, its already been renegotiated a number of times. What i heard him doing today is giving himself some room to probably not do a whole lot of anything but to keep his base happy. So i dont expect much to come out of this, to be honest. You really dont . You dont think that hes still leveling this threat . You dont think that he would go as far as to terminating nafta and pulling out . I dont think he will. I think as elise already touched on, there are a number of jobs that were created through this. He clearly was listening to leaders from mexico and canada, as he just said. He needs to satisfy his base. Obviously, part of his base is haters of trade. There are a lot on the democratic side as well, but i dont think he will take that step. I actually think he gave himself some room right now to just let this die. All right. Lets talk about paul ryan now. Paul ryan today in talking about health care, everyones kind of. Trying to get signals from the House Speaker on where they are. Do they have agreements . Do they have the votes . As much as he would give us was were not weve not yet made a decision on a vote on health care. I think thats paul ryan being very smart and acknowledging that they may not have the votes. They cannot afford the republican party, paul ryan, Republican Leadership cannot afford more egg on their face when it comes to this haelgealt care attempted. They looked terrible the first time. Only thing that would make them look more terrible is if they failed a second time. We dont know if they have the votes. Not all the tuesday groups, the moderate republicans are in favor and not all the Freedom Caucus votes are in favor. My congresswoman from south florida told me recently she votes no the second time. She thinks this is worst than the first one because of the preexisting condition. If theyre going to try a second tha time, girl, they better get it right. What we heard from paul ryan is people will be better off with preexisting conditions under our plan. But if you talk to some of the moderates, leonard, he does not agree with that at all. Im very concerned actually about the new preexisting condition provision, because it is essential to protect the eight million americans under 65 who have a preexisting condition, essential. This gives a lot of leeway to the secretary of health and Human Services basically granting states these waivers if they have high functioning high risk pools. But theres so much leeway there. That puts a lot of pressure on the administration to ensure that every state that is granted a waiver has a system in place that will protect these individuals. It could work. But theres a lot of leeway and it is concerning. It felt like the artificial deadline hes referring to was the 100 day mark which i think is a much bigger thing in trumps head than he wants to let on. This is an acknowledgement that were not going to get this done before 100 days. This was is the populace element of President Trumps je agenda. Hes been talking about this artificial deadline. Editor in chief of the hill, let me bring you on in on for this exact point. Democrats just this morning, number two democrat in the house, he made very clear that he thinks that democrats and says that democrats should not, will not vote to keep the government open if republicans would schedule a vote on health care the next couple days. Yeah. I it doesnt sound like paul ryan is going to have a vote because were counting the votes on the Health Care Bill and weve got 12 firm nos on the republican side and over 60 republicans we dont know or are reviewing the bill. I think ryan is saying whats true true. If they have the votes theyll move. They need democrats to pass this appropriations bill whether its short term and do the big bill next week but democrats have leverage do you think paul ryan would let them call his bluff on this . Would it look good for democrats to be seen as holding up government funding because of a vote on health care . You know, typically it doesnt look good for any party to holdup government funding or to shut down the government. We can all agree on that. There are a few issues and i think the risk of millions of people possibly losing health care is an area where democrats felt they need to do something bold. This is bold. But as bob alluded to and anna alluded to, it doesnt seem like paul ryan has the votes here. The tuesday group, they dont vote as a block. A lot of them are just coming back from two weeks in their districts where people are protesting things like defunding planned parenthood, like not getting covered for presifting conditions. They are feeling the political heat a lot more than the Freedom Caucus. It would surprise me if this actually became an issue. Right now this is a bold threat by democrats. It doesnt seem like its going to have to be used. It might not even get to the point. I hear what youre saying. I love this rotating cast of characters. Paul, great to see you. On the other very big breaking news happening today, with regard to the president s former National Security adviser Michael Flynn. Now coming out of democrats in the house they released this information that Michael Flynn, theres paperwork that says he was warned not warned not to accept foreign pages upon retirement from the military and the evidence that they see right now shows that he did just that. How much trouble does this put him in . Well, we dont know all of the facts, but this is this would have to do with his intent and whether he had knowledge that maybe he was violating the law and he had been warned about it. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, but if you have been explicitly warned that to do this is improper, that puts flynn in a very difficult position. So ive got to see more details to really evaluate it, but its not good news for general flynn. From your work at the state department, how does this play into its not like this meeting or event he went to was integrity. There are pictures. They knew about this. I keep wondering, is this all on Michael Flynn or does this reach to the white house . Because thats what Elijah Cummings is saying. I think when you have someone who is one of your top advisers to the campaign and you see that hes been doing all this international work, you care about optics most of the time. You care about what your people are doing. A lot of people have said that maybe President Trump himself didnt necessarily fully understand what was going on. He doesnt have government experience. He saw his people out there meeting with international people, getting his name out and perhaps thought that was a good idea. So you might be able to forgive, you know, some ignorance on his part. But certainly his top advisers should have known that, you know, issues related to being paid by a Foreign Government, foreign agents. And look, at the end of the day, he resigned because he, quote unquote was not truthful with mike pence, he died to mike pence. I dont think anybody thinks that was really why he was fired. When people started to unralvel this and saw the depths, whether being paid by turkey or russia or other governments, they saw he was a real liability on the foreign front. Jen, can i bring you in on this . Tell me if theres a clear answer on this. When the white house was asked about this yesterday sean spicer said, because the white house of course did not deny the request from this House Committee to send over documents related to flynns security clearance application. Theres the background. Spicer said when asked about it, its not the administrations responsibility to provide the documents. Heres just one quote from the briefing. Those are not documents the white house would ever possess on any employee. Can you give me your perspective on that. You know, i cant answer for you what the white house, this white house possesses or doesnt, but where they are creating enormous problems for themselves is by not being forthcoming with these type of documents. They fired mike flynn or he resigned, whatever exactly happened. And its unclear why they are not being forthcoming and participating in this process. Is it because theres something more to hide . That sure is what it seems like. So they should have documents that pertain to individual security clearance. I dont know why they wouldnt have access to those or why they couldnt get them. Filling out forms at least in my experience where you fill out the countries you visited, the contacts you had, its pretty standard fare for any official who is entering the white house in a high level position. Bob, one final question to you on this issue of these documents are released about flynn. Jason chafe fefetz the chairman the committee is criticizing cummings saying they were not informed bio that bipartisan effort we saw a couple days ago, is it already gone . I think it is. I do think its very telling that Jason Chaffetz a couple days ago basically said he thinks Michael Flynn committed a crime and thats a big problem. Republicans on capitol hill see where this is going that flynn lied to the Vice President , that he didnt reveal that he was getting paid by russia and turkey and they want to distance themselves. So i agree with jen, you want to distance yourself from flynn. You got rid of them and youve got to be transparent. Kaley, do you think theyre not distancing themselves from flynn . Would you like to see some more brighter line . I think theyve created a lot of distance since the firing. Its fair for sean spicer to say you cant expect us to hand over records of every single phone call. We just dont have those documents. I do think its essential that he have a very clear document as to why he cant hand over some of the documents prejanuary 20th. I think its really important to have a clear answer whether its he has fifth amendment rights here or were barred from doing this for some reason. He needs a clear answer. Speaking of muddled, many threads regarding the russian investigation. Its hard to keep track of it. How does this add to that . It makes it worse. Because for a long time weve been saying theres a lot of smoke but theres no fire. I think with flynn were getting closer and closer to the fire. They have got to be transparent. Were not talking about giving away, you know, the secret recipe for kentucky fried chicken. We are talking about National Security. We are talking possibly about trees tresaon. It benefits the white house. They must be transparent. Give it up. Stand by for more. Thank you for joining me. Welcome to inside politics im john king. Day 98 of the Trump Presidency and lots of moving parts. More trouble for the fosrmer security adviser. Investigating whether Michael Flynn failed to disclose payments after being warned not to take money in