And reaction from john podesta. And the Gop Health Care fight breaks down. We worked really hard. Let obamacare implode. But what does that mean for your bottom line . Well put that question and more to secretary tom price. Plus our powerhouse roundtable. From the white house to your house, we take on the moments that matter this week. Good morning. Two major headlines developing this week. Here at home, the Health Care Bill defeated in the senate after that dramatic overnight showdown. A thumbs down from senator john country intensifying. If the president is intensely focused on these two critical issues, its hard to tell. Sure, hes tweeted about north korea and health care. But also this week, he refocused the spot light on russia, by repeatedly deriding his own attorney general. Those attacks drawing criticism from fellow republicans. Then he issued a surprise announcement, on twitter. This one banning Transgender Americans from serving in the military. A decision that blindsided his own military leaders. The president also raised eyebrows with comments seeming to encourage police brutality. And as the war in the west wing spilled out into the public, he failed to condemn a scathing expletivelaced attack delivered from one member of his senior staff to another. Big issues at home and abroad. Now, as a new week begins with general kelly taking the reins as chief of staff tomorrow, can discipline finally be brought to a white house and a president who has been anything but disciplined . Lets bring in chief White House Correspondent jon karl to talk about all of this. Good morning, jon. Good morning, martha. Another extraordinary week in washington. Can general kelly calm things down . He comes in as a much more powerful chief of staff than Reince Priebus ever was. If you remember, martha, when priebus became chief of staff, he was announced along with steve bannon as the chieft. With Jared Kushner as a senior adviser. Now the power of all three positions, theoretically, at least, will reside with general kelly. Hell have authority that Reince Priebus never had. As you know, the issue throughout these First Six Months is that the real chief of staff in that white house has been donald trump. The question is whether or not hell truly cede that authority to general kelly and if hell listen to him. You know, one of the things you reported this week, jon, is that attorney general Jeff Sessions might be moved to replace general kelly at dhs. Does that mean the person replacing a. G. Sessions would have to say he wouldnt recuse himself from the russia investigation . Well, the president did say that is perhaps the most disappointing decision of anybody in his cabinet or on his staff. He was furious about it. He seethed for months. Hes still mad about it. But the president s senior advisers know if it came to confirmation hearings for another attorney general that that that congress, the senate would demand that the next attorney general make a promise not to fire robert mueller. Its not going to end the russia investigation. I also have to say this is under consideration. There are other serious candidates for the job of Homeland Security secretary. Congressman michael mccall, tom bossert. Who is now homeland securitied a vidser. And the president likes generals. I wouldnt rule out somebody even like general david petraeus. And lets talk about anthony scaramucci. That rant this week. This expletiveladen rant. The one person we havent talked about much is steve bannon. He really went after steve bannon. We cant repeat what he said. What will the relationship be like between those two men . Well, bannon has got thick skin. And bannon is no stranger to insults you cant say on television. Hes directed many of those at fellow republicans like paul ryan. I think that relationship will end up being fine, believe it or not. Bannons position within the west wing is certainly diminished. Not what it was in the early months of the administration. I would expect in the coming days you would see scaramucci or it will happen behind closed doors, but we will know. Scaramucci and bannon will sit down. Work out their issues. That wont be a problem. No question, bannon is not the power player he once was in that white house. And quickly. Will the leaks stop in the future . This, you know, i dont see that happening. Clearly, kelly comes in as a much more powerful chief of staff. Stopping the leaks will be one of his top priorities. You still have warring factions within that white house. And, we have had a Communications Operation that hasnt been very effective. People have gone directly to reporters. I dont think that will stop happening. Thank you very much, jon karl. And im joined now by Radio Host Bill cunningham from news radio 700 wlw in cincinnati. Good morning, bill. Good morning. Your radio show broadcasts across kentucky, indiana, and ohio. Solid trump country. President trump was out in youngstown, at rally just this week. When you were last on our show in april, you said you could go weeks and weeks and never get a telephone call from anyone criticizing donald trump. Is that still the case . Martha, were now at the end of july. Look at it this way. A few years ago, a friend of mine wrote a book, said all things the book said things that matter. What are the things that matter in ohio, kentucky, indiana . Let me tell you what. I paid 1. 99 for gas last week 1. 99 a gallon. Which is unbelievable. Unemployment is at 4 . The 4 wouldnt work if you put a gun to their head. Inflation is nonexistent. I can get a 30year mortgage for under 4 . And you have fox con spending 10 billion in wisconsin and illinois. Unbelievable stuff. Theres a new metallurgical factory opening up in ashland, kentucky. The stock market is at an alltime high. When i see on great shows like yours, all these parlor games, whats up . Whos down in washington . I paid 1. 99 for gas. Those are the things that matter. He does seem to have solid base support. Ive been around the country. Ohio, pennsylvania, a lot. The independents who voted for donald trump do seem to be a little squishier of late. And how about that poll . Our latest abc News Washington post poll shows his Approval Rating at 36 . The lowest for any president at the sixmonth mark in 70 years. What does he do about people outside of his base . The rest of america . What advice would you give him . When he went to youngstown, thousands and thousands showed up. If he would come here to cincinnati, the same thing would happen. I dont think any president after six or seven months could travel the way the trumpster has traveled. With the outpouring of love and affection. Despite the fact that a few days ago, the back stabber, o. J. Style, who is senator john mccain, who began his public life as a hero and is ending up giving a thumbs down and a middle finger to the middle class by not repealing obamacare. What happened a couple of days ago is terrible. I think trump has lost a little support in the periphery. But the heart and soul of america that beats this great country is ohio, kentucky, indiana, illinois, michigan, wisconsin, iowa. This is where real americans, normal americans live. These are the lands of j. D. Vance and hillbilly elegy. This is where normal people wake up every day. Everywhere i look. Things are good. Everything that should be up is up. Things that should be down are down. America is pretty good. School starts in two weeks. I see an america bursting at the seams to get loose. Most of my listeners are proud that the trumpster is still in the white house and is still extremely popular among the base who put him there. If the election were held today, there was a poll a few days ago, that the trumpster would beat hillary again, and again, and again. Basically in the land of j. D. Vance and hillbilly elegy, things are pretty good. What i see on television and read in newspapers from the east coast is a disconnect to normal americans like me. Okay. Thanks for that view from trump country. Bill cunningham. President Trumps Health and Human Services secretary tom price joins me now. Mr. Secretary, this week, President Trump said you were responsible for the passage of a Health Care Bill. Heres what he said about you. Hopefully, hes going to get the votes tomorrow to start our path toward killing this horrible thing known as obamacare thats really hurting us. He better get em. Oh, otherwise, ill say, tom, youre fired. Ill get somebody. Safe to say you still have your job. I know you say it was a joke. But there was a message to you there. What could you have done differently . Do you feel you let the president down . I think what that statement was, one, i think it was a humorous comment that the president made. I think what it highlighted is the seriousness with which he takes this issue. He understands that the American People are hurting because of obamacare. We have over 30 of the counties across the nation have one insurer offering coverages. Premiums and deductibles are up. We have Insurance Companies fleeing the market. The president understands that this obamacare right now is not working for the patients across this land. Thats what he wants to fix. Thats what his passion is. The president also talked repeatedly this week about letting obamacare implode. As recently as friday he was calling for that. This is what he said last february. From a purely political standpoint, the single best thing we can do is nothing. Let it implode completely. But its not the right thing to do for the American People. Its not the right thing to do. So what is it going to be . Is he going to let it implode or as he says, do the right thing for the American People . No, i think what the president said is its not the right thing to do because it hurts people. Again, the president s passion about this is that he understands that this system may be working for washington. It may be working for Insurance Companies. But its not working for patients. And thats where his passion is. Thats why he keeps coming back to this and saying, look, senate, do your job. Congress, do your job. You have said for seven years youre going to repeal and replace obamacare. Now get to work and get it done. This week, he said he was going to let it implode. Is that what hes going to do . No, i think again, that that punctuates the concern he has about getting this moved in the right direction. There are people we were in the white house this past week with the president and four families. One little fella, monty, a 3yearold with spina bifida. Their Insurance Company this is a challenge for anybody, but what it means is that youve got to have a single physician caring for you throughout the extent of that treatment. Their insurance has changed three times in three years because of obamacare. This is a system that is not working for patients. Thats what the president understands. Thats what he appreciates. Thats why hes so passionate about making certain he does all that he can to get this repealed and replaced with a system that works for patients. But he said let obamacare implode, then deal. What does that mean . Again, i think what that does is it punctuates the seriousness that he understands the American People dealing with the current situation. How is he going to deal with it . People paying premiums of 1,000 a month. And deductibles of 1,000. If youre making 40,000, 50,000, 60,000 bucks, you have an insurance card, but you cant afford the care. This system is not working for patients. Thats where the president s passion is. And thats why he believes so strongly we need to do whatever we can to repeal and replace it. Okay. Lets talk about what youre going to do. Hhs has the ability to further destabilize the marketplace by stopping costsharing payments to insurers. Not enforcing the individual mandate. Working internally to undermine it. You have said nobody is interested in sabotaging the system. Are you going to help it implode or try to fix it . The responsibility of the department is to improve the health and the safety and well being of the American People. We take that mission extremely seriously. Which is why were so passionate about making certain that we have a Health Care System, again, that works for patients. Right now, you have a system that is not working for patients. You have folks who give us calls every day and let us know the concern they have about their inability to get care for their family. We have calls from physicians across this land who let us know that theyre no longer able to take care of the patients theyre charged with caring for because of the rules and regulations out of washington. The aca. The obamacare stated 1442 times. 1,442 times. The secretary shall or the secretary may. What the Previous Administration did was make it so it was harder to care for patients and drove up the cost of coverage and drove up the cost of care. Were going to look at every one of those rules and regulations, all 1442 of them and determine, does it drive up costs or down costs . Does it help patients or hurt patients . And when it drives up costs and hurts patients, were going to move in the other direction. Secretary price, i want to go back to the president saying imploding. Is what the president is proposing, letting the existing system fail, putting the needs of patients first . I understand your views on obamacare. Martha, the Current System is imploding. President has stated it. I understand it. The American People understand it. Again, youve got Insurance Companies. You have 83 Insurance Companies before this administration came into office that fled the market. That said, we cant do this anymore. Youre going to have 40 of the counties in the country next year that only have one Insurance Company providing coverage. Thats not a choice. Youll have dozens of counties in this country that have no Insurance Company providing coverage. This system has failed. Thats what the president is saying. Hes demanding congress act. If we could fix it by regulation, we would do so. It takes an act of congress. To take care of it. Thats what the president is demanding. Lets talk about specifics. As for insurance subsidies, the president tweeted if a new Health Care Bill is not in place quickly. Bailouts for Insurance Companies and bailouts for members of congress will end very soon. How soon could hhs stop paying costsharing payments to insurers . Next month . Has the president made a decision . No decision is made. Im not able to comment anymore because its a court case. And as you know, the deft in that case is price. Its house v. Price. What i will tell you is that the court has said the house position was that the and Previous Administration, the administration didnt have the authority to make the payment. The court has, at this point, agreed with the house position. Its working its way through the court. But im not able to weigh in any further because of being the defendant in the case. Okay. What about the individual mandate . Is the president considering directing his agencies not to enforce it . Have you ruled that out . The individual mandate is one of those things driving up the cost for the American People in terms of coverage. What were trying to do is make it so obamacare is no longer harming the patients of this land. No longer driving up costs. No longer making it so theyve got coverage but no care. And the individual mandate is one of those things. The senate recognized it. The house recognized it. And put in place in their legislation that they put in the house and proposed in the senate a repeal of the penalty for the individual mandate. Thats one of the things that is driving the costs up. Making it so people dont have coverage. President trump did sign an executive order allowing hhs to waive the individual mandate. So thats still an option, right . Well, all things are on the table to try to help patients. What were trying to do is make it so we have a Health Care System that responds to the needs of the American People. When the federal government gets in the way of responding to those needs, allowing the American People to provide coverage and care for themselves across this land, its incumbent on us as policymakers and as individuals charged with the responsibility of leading to put in place a system that actually works for the American People. Thats what the president s passion is. Thats what our passion is. Thank you very much for joining us this morning, secretary price. Thank you, martha. And im joined now by one of President Trumps toughest critics. Former Clinton Campaign chair john podesta. Lets move away from health care and start with the latest white house shakeup. Reince priebus is out. John kelly is in as chief of staff. You have worked for two administrations. Counsellor to president obama, bill clintons chief of staff. What does a change at the top like this mean for the white house as a whole . Well, martha, look, its an important move, i think, for the white house. I think general kelly will have his hands full tomorrow morning when he starts work at the white house. Hes got to really do three things. I think. One, is, to provide to end the chaos. To get some disciplin