Is the president aware of the story its probably good if we mix it up a little bit. Is the president aware of the story of the i. T. Staff, of the congressional i. T. Staffer who most recently worked for florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman schultz that was arrested amendmenting attempting to leave the country. Is the president aware of that particular circumstance and is he satisfied with the pace of the investigation. I havent had a conversation with him specifically about that. But i do think it is something we should fully look into and there should be a thorough investigation. Since we only have one question, im going to ask about the boy scouts. Better make it count. The chief wrote this to family members who were at the president s events earlier this week. I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in your scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree. That was never our intent. We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the scouting program. Does the president owe the boy scouts an apology. I was at that event and i saw nothing but roughly 40 to 45,000 boy scouts cheering the president on throughout his remarks. And i think they were pretty excited that he was there, and happy to hear him speak to them. But the head of the boy scouts is acknowledged that theres a problem. A lot of parents have expressed frustration in the wake of those comments, and felt the need to actually write a letter about it. So does the president owe them an apology . Again, i was at that event and heard nothing but a lot of cheering and probably one of the most energetic crowds ive seen in front of the president and so i dont have anything to add. I havent seen the statement from the boy scouts. So i cant comment any further than what i saw firsthand, and that was a lot of individuals, roughly 40 to 45,000 as reported, cheering the president on. Zeke. I have two for you real quick. You have one, remember, theres a rule today. Ill be quick. First on Anthony Scaramucci. On cnn this morning, he said he had a conversation with attorney general Jeff Sessions about these supposed leaks. That would appear to violate doj guidelines. Im hoping you could provide some clarity on that. And secondly, out of alaska today, the local paper there is reporting that senator murkowski received a phone call from secretary of interior zinke essentially threatening the federal dollars that were sent towards the people of alaska if she voted a certain way on the health care bill. I was hoping if you could confirm that and discuss whether that sort of conversation if it happened. Ill answer both of your questions with one answer so that it keeps it somewhat fair since you kind of broke the rules. But im not going to speak about conversations between cabinet members and other individuals that i wasnt a part of and havent had a chance to talk to either individual about. You suggested that the president continues to have confidence in Reince Priebus based on the fact that hes still in the position and hes a friend of Anthony Scaramucci who is coming into the administration. At this point, based on what weve seen, quite publicly playing out, though, does he think they at least need to sit down and talk as House Speaker paul ryan said and get whatever this is out of their system so that they can start off on the right foot here. You know, i dont know if he has an opinion on what they should do between the two of them. I think the president , as always, enjoys healthy competition and conversation, and he sees that as such. Ive got to wrap up here because the president is getting ready to do an event, which i know you all probably want to attend. And i want to leave you with just one last thing before i close out on an important development. You guys love to talk about russia and theres been nonstop coverage, and the one day that there might have been a question on russia, there wasnt. Often, we have a lot of media with russia first, but today, there was public testimony that further discredited the phony dossier thats been the source of so much of the fake news and conspiracy theories, and we learned that the firm that produced it was also being paid by the russians. This is yet the latest piece of evidence that vindicates what the president has said, that this is a witch hunt and a hoax. And its a shame that the president and the country have had to go through charade continually and hopefully this will help us move forward in that process and with that, thank you guys so much and well see you tomorrow. What is the definition of healthy conversation . So we got a lot of voices to talk through what we just heard there from Sarah Huckabee sanders. I think one of the headlines being, you know, when she was asked and then asked again about the president s confidence level in his chief of staff, given this whole back and forth over twitter and whatnot with Anthony Scaramucci, the director of coms and Reince Priebus, the chief of staff, she couldnt quite say yes on that. So i thought that was noteworthy but just reiterated that she said the president likes healthy competiti competition in the white house. But thats not where i want to begin. Dana bash, to you on the news that has percolated since weve been listening on the a. G. , Jeff Sessions, and the public belittling of him by the president , yet hes still staying in his post. Whats the news that weve learn. As you can see on the screen, we just have a headline that came from the Associated Press who apparently has spoken to the attorney general and it seems as though hes finally broken his silence, all we have is the headline that he says he will continue to serve as long as President Trump wants him, meaning, i aint quitting, i aint going anywhere. If you want me out, fire me. So well see, obviously, if and what they have thats more, you know, more of an explanation of how he sees his job and how he can figure out how to maneuver the mine field that now is being the attorney general under a president who clearly doesnt want you in the job. Crystal, i want your two cents on that as well. To go back to the briefing, one little nugget we heard from the president earlier this week. When sarah was asked about sessions, the president disappointed in the fact that he recused himself ahead of the russia investigation but wants him to move forward in the job. What do you think . That, i thought, was the most positive thing if youre Jeff Sessions, that hes had in about six days. Today, less so, that. Heres the thing, brooke. The easiest thing that Sarah Huckabee sanders could probably do in response to all these questions that she gets about Jeff Sessions is to say t president , the president is not going to fire Jeff Sessions. He doesnt agree with the recusal decision on russia but he has faith in the attorney general to do the job. She doesnt say that. But the reason she doesnt say that is because donald trump doesnt feel that way and thats the thing. You have to listen to whats not said, both about Reince Priebus, the chief of staff, and about Jeff Sessions. I think danas exactly right. Jeff sessions chris can i just sad, and im sure you would agree with this, that i think that sarah is probably also not saying explicitly the president wont fire him because that may be true right now, as shes standing there, but it could also change in five minutes and she has egg on her face which has happened many times before. Danas exactly right. And i think that you have to you never, as a press person, want to get ahead of the president. They always would say that. Youd hear that from josh, from anyone who did that job. But with this president , its almost impossible because the ground shifts. What he thinks today might not be what he thinks tomorrow. Its uniquely possible he gets up tomorrow and decides that Jeff Sessions is going to stay and tweets out, Jeff Sessions shouldnt have recused himself but doing a great job, hes my guy. I dont think thats likely, but its certainly not impossible. It may be close to as likely as that he runs him down on twitter again. But it is important that she did not say that. It is important because it cant it could have been said if she had talked to the president and he told her to say it, he clearly still wants to keep Jeff Sessions twisting in the wind no matter if he says hes keeping him twisting in the wind or not. So theres Jeff Sessions. Then there is Reince Priebus, the chief of staff. Let me bring in richard, the former clinton adviser and Scott Jennings, former bush adviser on this whole Reince Priebus bit with Anthony Scaramucci, last friday, you know, referring to them as brothers in the podium, today with chris cuomo on new day referring to them as brothers like cain and abel. Ive been trying to digest this dell usauge weve had. I think there are sometimes two conversations going on in america. Theres the conversation you have going on in the urban corridor where we are today and then theres the conversation the way average americans may see it out in the heartland and so to put a frame on it, the conversation that i think trump may be having with his base out in the heartland, number one, hey, i just created thousands of jobs in wisconsin, which is something i said i would do. Number two, were cracking down on the gangs, which i said i was going to do. Number three, people may have seen some news about some white house guys that i dont really know who dont like each other, whatever, i dont care. He made a controversial decision on the military but its not gone into effect yet and oh, by the way, the gop is trying to keep its promise on health care. If thats the conversation the way trumps base in the heartland is hearing it, if im sitting at the white house, thats not a terrible thing, particularly if the jobs news is part of what is in that stream. But trump is driving the i really i will say that i think anybody who sees its like youve described it is living in a bit of an alternative universe. I mean, the amazing thing about everything thats happened today, everything thats happened in the last 24 hours, is that were trying to talk about it as if it was part of a normal construct. This is unheard of, really, in the history of american politics, certainly in any of our lifetimes, to have a president trying to govern by creating this kind of chaos. I mean, hes at war with his own attorney general, who he can fire and hire. The attorney general says, well, ill stay as long as he wants me. Hes certainly the president certainly hasnt said anything that would suggest, in a real, fullhearted way that he wants this guy. I mean, everything suggests the opposite, that he wants the attorney general to leave so he can put somebody else in. The white house staff is feuding with each other with the chief of staff, you know, when i worked on the white house staff for eight years, you would never cross the chief of staff because if you crossed the chief of staff, that meant that you were out. I mean, you couldnt even, like, say boo to the chief of staff. Now the chief of staff is being undermined. All of these things that we count on, americans count on, for the proper functioning of government are going to pieces. But the president has the power to steer some of the dialogue, and back to you and your points, and im not saying people in the heartland are living in some alternate universe and you outlined it perfectly for one group of folks but when the president hopes on the phone with Anthony Scaramucci before Anthony Scaramucci hops on the phone with chris cuomo for 30 minutes this morning and its Anthony Scaramucci who chooses not to focus on the awesome jobs news but on leaks. Thats on them. Yeah, well, i totally agree with you, and the issue of leaks the when youre given time on cnn or youre given time on any of these, you know, National Networks to talk and youre not talking about the jobs announcement. 30 minutes. That may be a missed opportunity. I do think its sort of condescending, dimissive and youre not learning the mistakes from the way you talk about the election in 2016, to say you must be living in an alternate universe if you dont see it this way. There are millions of americans who see it exactly the way i just laid out and thats what we have to understand. Were having two conversations in this country. Two different groups of people seeing the news two different ways and theyre not talking about it in the same way. And we cannot ignore it. But that is the tell trump that. Tell the president that. He knows it. He invented it and he won the white house on it. He invented it. He is trying to create two different kinds of conversations. But the truth is, is that theres a conversation thats happening in reality and theres a conversation thats happening in fantasy. But can i also just say that part of where the president has got engine a real danger zone over the past week or so since hes been going after his attorney general is he is encroaching on the conversation that is being had among the people who support him in the base. Agreed. And eroding that support by attacking Jeff Sessions, who is a hero among those people. And i can just say, as weve been talking a little bit more of Jeff Sessions a. P. Interview came out where he, Jeff Sessions, again did make clear, if you want me to leave, plmt, y mr. President , you got to fire me. I serve at the pleasure of the president. I understood that from the day i took the job and he acknowledges is this has not been the best week in his relationship with trump, understatement of the year. But he says he and trump have a harmony of values and beliefs. And that is a very important last line, the harmony of values and beliefs. Andre bauer, youve been waiting patiently. Let me come to you as well to bring your voice into the conversation. The white house just today saying asked about Reince Priebus, couldnt give this, you know, full throated, i have confidence in him, but sarah said the president likes healthy competition. Do you think the president may be a little bit enjoys the palace intrigue, the infighting . I think that he wants to find the best people he can in this job. This guys a modern day davie crockett. He is a business tycoon and just like when i hold office, i held three different political offices, when i had somebody that i thought i was getting the best out of, i replaced them. This is a guy that is known for, youre fired, and i think youre going to see a lot more of this. Hes going to find people that deliver a message and the results he wants, and when you look at the results, you know, theyre overwhelming, almost 1 million new jobs, record high numbers. I mean, immigrations down. Youre seeing resultsoriented person. Look, he doesnt know how to work the media as best as he would like because hes not driving the stories he would like. However, the results, the American People are going to feel them. Theyre going to feel nit their pocketbook. My business is doing better than its ever done and youre seeing the results. Washington can continue to beat on and the media can continue to beat on him but at the end of the day, about five states are going to decide whether he gets to be president for another four years and those states are seeing unbelievable opportunities within their own state. Hang on a second because i want to make sure we get general marks back in ahead of the event at the white house. Spider marks, we talked about how the joint chiefs didnt even know anything about the transgender ban. They were slapped by it, surprised like everyone else when the president tweeted what he did. The white house in the briefing saying, theyll work out the details. Exactly correct. Look, the fact that the chiefs and the service chiefs, the joint chiefs, service chiefs, were intellectually ambushed is simply a matter of technique. Its not the best leadership. Youd prefer not to do that. Youd prefer to have everybody on the same page so the ball now is in the secretary of defense and d. O. D. s lap. Its their obligation to get back to the president on a very specified time line that says, here with the options for doing what youve asked us to do. Thats going to take a lot of coordination because all we have is limited to the number of characters on a tweet. We need to get into what are the real intentions, here are the implications, what are the nonnegotiables, how do you view this. So that conversation needs to be take needs to take place in earnest and i can guarantee you the chairman of the joint chiefs and the sec def are going to do that immediately. Just to follow up on that. Chris, to you on this ban, the transgender in the military, help us understand, beyond the how they implement it, because to me, thats not entirely clear but the why piece. Its my understanding, from reading our reporting that it was Congressional Republicans who had been pressuring or lobbying the white house, but even those conservatives on capitol hill werent asking for an outright ban. They just had issue with the money and the cost of some of the surgeries. Is that correct . I mean, even they were surprised by how far the president went. Yeah. The why is always difficult with this president , and i dont say that to demean him. Its just his he is a uniquely isolated figure in some ways, in that, yes, he does, i think, talk, and like to sort of kibitz with other folks, people like Anthony Scaramucci, but his Decision Making seems to often come, if not out of nowhere, not at the result and general marks touched on this, not as the result of the typical or traditional way in this cheese decisio these decisions are made, its a lot of conversations among folks, very publicly and they arrive at a conclusion and then the president has an event at which he announces what that conclusion will be and everyone involved is there and they discuss. Its already the implementations been discussed. Trump does things unlike that. Now, before you run it down, and i think what Scott Jennings said is very important. Before you run it down, i think you have to remind yourself, donald trump was not elected to be a traditional president. So, if you hated him and you think hes terrible and should not be president , as a candidate, youre going to hate him and think he was terrible as president. But if you voted for something radically different, then you dont care about how it was how it was announced. That stuff doesnt affect you. So in a way, hes doing what he said he would do. I think it causes chaos among the establishment and that will ultimately not be good for him but he views it as doing what he was elected to do. Chris, thank you. Lets go to the Vice President in the white house. Members of congress, our distinguished guests, members of the Law Enforcement community from all across the United States, on behalf of the first family, welcome to the white house. And welcome to american heroes week here in our nations capital. One month ago today, america woke to shocking news, that a gunman had opened fire on a baseball diamond just south of our nations capital. But in the wake of that horrific attack, our nation was deeply inspired by the heroism of americas First Responders. And we celebrate that today. Today, President Trump will pay a debt of gratitude to the men and women who inspired the nation that day and all they represent. This week, good news. The nation rejoiced with word that congressman Steve Scalise was released from the hospital. [ applause ] and steve, i know youre watching, so let me say were inspired and really by your recovery. Its an answer to prayer. And were especially honored to be joined today by your remarkable and courageous wife, jennifer. Jennifer, i know i speak for the president when i say that you and the kids will remain in our prayers until steve is back to work. Jennifer also wanted me to recognize two medical professionals who cared for congressman scalise from the very moment he arrived at the hospital and tended to the others who were wounded that day. Trauma surgeon jack sava and dr. Robert golden of Med Star Washington Hospital Center saved lives, and were honored by your presence today. But finally, here on american heroes week, we gather in particular to honor five truly remarkable americans who without regard to their personal safety rushed into harms way and prevented an even Greater National tragedy. Join me in welcoming five american heroes here to the east room at the white house. Officer kevin jobe of the Alexandria Police. Officer Alexander Jensen of the Alexandria Police. Officer nicole bataglia of the Alexandria Police. Officer david bailey of the United States Capitol Police. And officer crystal griner of the United States Capitol Police. As you will hear more in a moment, these five officers exemplify the best of Law Enforcement in this country. And they honor us by their presence today. Before we welcome the president , would you just join me in showing one more round of applause to five remarkable americans and all the men and women in Law Enforcement that they represent. Here at the white house today. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States. Please sit down. Thank you. And thank you to Vice President for doing a fantastic job and for the introduction. We welcome you all. Members of congress and distinguished guests, we are gathered here today for a very, very special occasion. As we pay tribute to real heroes whose courageous actions under fire saved so many lives and alexandria, virginia, just six weeks ago. On the morning of june 14, several members of congress began their day on the baseball diamond practicing for one of this towns greatest traditions, the annual Charity Congressional baseball game. It was just another beautiful morning until the unthinkable happened, the familiar sounds of baseball were suddenly interrupted by loud, vicious gunfire. Matt mika, zachary barth, and beloved congressman and my friend Steve Scalise were each shot during an attack. Others were injured trying to evade the incoming bullets, of which there were many. Fortunately, from the moment that gunman began to shoot, he was met by return fire. Capitol police, special agents, david bailey and crystal griner raced through the bullets, and thats exactly what they did. They raced through the bullets. And immediately engaged the gunman. Minutes later, members of the Alexandria Police department arrived on the scene. Officers nicole bataglia, kevin jobe, and alex jensen joined the fight. Special agent griner was shot in the leg. I visited her in the hospital. She was hurt very badly. And shrapnel injured special agent bailey as bullets swirled all around him. Despite their injuries, both officers heroically continued to face down the gunman until they brought him down. And he had rifles. They had handguns. Its a big difference. These officers saved the lives of every innocent person on the field that day. Many of them friends of mike and myself. They are american heroes and we salute them. [ applause ] fantastic. That is so beautiful. Thank you. We also salute the members of congress who acted with such bravery in the face of danger. Shielding each other and caring for the injured. We honor today the emergency dispatchers who directed the First Responders to the scene within seconds. They really acted quickly. I especially want to recognize all of the personnel from the Alexandria Fire Department and the u. S. Park Police Aviation unit for providing life support in a crisis where every second mattered. Thank you for what you did that day and for what you do every single day. Thank you very much. We also express our deep appreciation for the paramedics, doctors, nurses, and surgeons, from med star Washington Hospital and George Washington University Hospital for saving the lives of the wounded. Joining us today is congressman scalises medical team. Dr. Jack safa. Wheres jack . Stand up, jack. Come on. Med stars director of trauma surgery and dr. Robert golden, the director of orthopedic trauma. Doctor . Congratulations. They were a lot more worried that night at the hospital, werent they . Great job. You have the gratitude of the entire nation. Thank you for caring for the victims and for your dear friend, steve, and he is our dear friend. Steve is a fighter. Weve known that for a long time. This week, he was discharged from the hospital and is now beginning weeks of intensive rehabilitation at an inpatient facility. He will recover. We are praying for him. We are pulling for him. And we are sending his family our support and our love. Steves great wife, who ive gotten to know, jennifer is here with us today. And we applaud the strength and courage that she has shown throughout this incredible ordeal. Thank you, jennifer. [ applause ] thank you, jennifer. Other americans responded to this tragedy in ways that remind us how much stronger we are when were united. When the congressional baseball game was played just one day later, nearly 25,000 people turned out. By far, a record. They raised more than 1. 5 million for charity, also by far a record. The citizens of steves home parish organized a blood drive in his name and Vice President pence donated his blood at the congressional blood drive. Thank you, mike. Just recently, House Republicans and democrats introduced a bill to provide support to Capitol Police officers who are injured on duty. People have been looking at this for a long time, but jennifer, you can tell steve that he pulled it off, okay . Thats better than being a whip. I hope it gets to my desk soon. I will sign it immediately. The assault on june 14 reminded us that evil exists in this world, but it also reminded us that heroes walk in our midst. That love triumphs over tragedy, and that our resolve is stronger than ever. We praise americas Law Enforcement, and i have been praising them for a long time. They are unbelievable people. For being tough, for doing the tough jobs, the dangerous jobs, and sometimes thankless jobs with tremendous integrity, devotion, and courage. So i just want to thank Law Enforcement generally. Thank you. I can only tell you from the campaign that people love you. They respect you, and they admire you. So, i know you go through a lot. But they have great admiration, so just remember that, please. Today, im deeply honored to present our nations highest award for a Public Safety officer, the medal of valor, to special agent crystal griner, special agent david bailey, and Alexandria Police Department Officers nicole bataglia, kevin jobe, and alex jensen. The medal of valor is reserved for those who go above and beyond the call of duty as each of these men and women did that on that fateful day, and they did it with great courage and they did it with instinct. When our human instincts tell us to run, theres danger, our police and First Responders run straight at it, standing in the breach, protecting the innocent and keeping our loved ones safe. Now i would like the military aide to read the citation as these Great American heroes step forward to receive the medal of valor. Special agent crystal griner. Medal of valor presented to special agent crystal griner, u. S. Capitol police, District Of Columbia for bravery and composure while engaged in an active shooter incident. Despite being shot, special agent griner placed herself in mortal danger to save the lives of members of congress, attending family members, and Congressional Staff during a Charity Softball practice at Eugene Simpson Memorial Park in alexandria, virginia. [ applause ] special agent david bailey. Medal of valor presented to special agent david bailey, u. S. Capitol police, District Of Columbia, for taking brave and Decisive Action to subdue an active shooter. Special agent bailey was shot during the exchange of gunfire but continued to advance the shooter without benefit of cover until the active shooter was subdued, saving the lives of members of congress, attending family members, and Congressional Staff. [ applause ] officer nicole battaglia. Medal of valor presented to officer nicole battaglia, Alexandria Police department, virginia. For demonstrating extraordinary courage in saving the lives of two u. S. Capitol police officers, members of congress, their families, and Congressional Staff. Officer battaglia engaged the assailant, exchanging gunfire at close range, and ultimately neutralizing him. [ applause ] officer Alexander Jensen. Medal of valor presented to officer alex jensen, Alexandria Police department, virginia, for swift and valiant action in responding to an active shooter. Officer jensen put himself in harms way during the active shooter incident, moving without cover and drawing fire from the assailant until the assailant was subdued and the safety of the members of congress, their families, and Congressional Staff was ensured. [ applause ] officer kevin jobe. Medal of valor presented to officer kevin jobe, Alexandria Police department, virginia, for placing himself in grave danger to protect two u. S. Capitol police officers, members of congress, their families, and Congressional Staff. Officer jobe engaged an active shooter, neutralizing a volatile gunman, and preventing further injuries to innocent bystanders in the park. [ applause ] very brave people, great people. Congratulations to all of you. We are forever in your debt. Thank you. God bless you. God bless our truly amazing Law Enforcement, and god bless america. Thank you very much. Thank you. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats until the president has departed the east wing. Those are the heroes. Remember the story, the bloodshed one month ago today on a baseball diamond early, early in the morning in alexandria, virginia. And just keep in mind, before we move off of this picture, those special agents with the Capitol Hill Police on the right of your screen in particular, they were there that day because of Steve Scalise, the congressman, the whip. He was there. Had he not been there, they would not have been there, and with the gunman, having spoken to multiple members of congress who played in that game when we were covering this from capitol hill, it would have been so much worse. Those were our heroes. Lets move on. We have more on our breaking news this afternoon. After being attacked by President Trump, attorney general Jeff Sessions says he is staying on for as long as the president wants him. Plus, the white house will not say whether the president has full confidence in his own chief of staff. Stay with me. Youre watching cnn. Im brooke baldwin. For your heart. Your joints. Or your digestion. So why wouldnt you take something for the most important part of you. Your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is now the number one selling brain Health Supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. 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 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. 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This is after a repealonly proposal failed this week. Senators are focusing on whats being called a skinny repeal and a major opponent of the senates efforts so far says this whole skinny repeal is 90 of what she wants moving forward. Last hour kicked off with the first vote and then later on much of to those following along very closely, the votearama gets underway where democrats will attempt to propose as many attempts as possible. This could last until the wee hours of the mortganing. So ryan nobles gets to cover all this for us from capitol hill. Do they think they can cross the finish line . Reporter you know, the sense were getting is that republican senators are increasingly optimistic that theyre going to get to that 50vote standard that they need in order to get a skinny repeal over the finish line. The big concern that many of them have here today, brooke, is that they dont want the skinny repeal to become law. In fact, theres a big bunch of republicans who are scared about the potential of it becoming law. They just want to use this as a vehicle to get to a Conference Committee where they get back together with members from the house of representatives and then come up with some sort of a consensus plan to move forward on a broader repeal and replace plan. But the concern many of them have is once they pass this bill, it goes back over to the house, and it will be the responsibility of the speaker of the house to go to the conference. They could theoretically just pass the bill on the house side without ever coming back now Mitch Mcconnell told senators in a meeting that he has had assurances that they will come back to the conference. I know sounds a little bit of inside baseball here, brooke, but the these are kind of the little problems that are cropping up at every stage of this process. And this is why senators to want make sure they get all the assurances they can possibly get before they cast a ballot in the affirmati affirmative. If youre a republican and looking at the glass halfful scenario. This is the magic 50 number and goes to the house, and now house members are being told, hang on a second, dont take that august vacation just yet. Yeah, thats right, members of the house of representatives have been told by their leadership to plan to be around this weekend. So that they can vote on that measure that would then send the bill to a Conference Committee. That has to be agreed to by all members of the house of representatives. That shows you how high the stakes are right now. And it also shows you about the degree of optimism that Senate Republicans and House Republicans have that theyre going to get something passed here in the next couple of days. Itll be a process. This isnt something thats going to happen with the snap of someones fingers. As you mention, theyre going to vote on the repeal, but also through this barrage of amendments that are going to be put up by both republicans and democrats, most of them show votes, just designed to get people on the record, and thats why we could be here until the Early Morning hours today. Yeah, i was about to say, get comfortable before you sleep, my friend. Ryan nobles there covering all Things Health care. Thank you so much. Also developing this afternoon, quite a bit of confusion around the president s sudden ban on Transgender Service members in the military. We are now hearing that the joint chiefs chairman wasnt even aware. And now the white house is scrambling amid the backlash. Coming up, well talk to its transgender veteran who says shes ready to take the president to court. So how old do you want uhh, i was thinking around 70. Alright, and before that . You mean after that . No, im talking before that. Do you have things you want to do before you retire . Oh yeah sure. Ok, like what . But i thought we were supposed to be talking about investing for retirement . Were absolutely doing that. But theres no law you cant make the most of today. What do you want to do . Id really like to run with the bulls. Wow. Yea. Hope youre fast. I am. Get a portfolio that works for you now and as your needs change. Investment Management Services from td ameritrade. Hey youve gotta see this. Cno. N. Alright, see you down there. Mmm, fine. Okay, what do we got . Okay, watch this. Do the thing we talked about. What do we say . Its going to be great. Watch. Remember what we were just saying . Go irish see that . Yes im gonna just go back to doing what i was doing. Find your awesome with the xfinity x1 voice remote. New fall out today from President Trumps tweets that Service Members will be banned from the military. Defense or telling cnn and the chairman himself had no idea this was coming. They were totally blind sided. And moments ago, this comment from the army chief of staff. Treat every single soldier, sailor, marine, coast guard, with dignity and respect for the service and the cloth of our nation. We add on and tell you that the navy will not discharge transgender sailors and they will still receive medical treatment. The military here suddenly finding himself on the defense from a president who once said this as a candidate. Ask yourself, who is really the friend of women and the lb and Lgbt Community . Donald trump, with actions, or Hillary Clinton with her words . I will tell you who the better friend is. And some day, i believe, that will be proven out, bigly. [ applause ] this is a transgender marine corps veteran and also a staff attorney at land of legal, the oldest lgbt rights litigation organization. They will sue if the ban is enacted into policy. Sasha, thank you so much for being with me, and thank you for serving our great country. Thanks brooke, thanks for having me on the program. This is the statement, part of the statement from the joint chiefs chairman. There will be no modifications to the current policy and tell the president s direction has been received by the secretary of defense and the secretarys issued implementation guidelines in the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect. Whats your reaction to even how the tiptop brass is surprised and how theyre handling this. Its so disrespectful of the president to issue this policy by tweet that way it would effect the lives of thousands of serving transgender people who are serving our military. We were putting the lives on the line every day to defend freedom in this country. And you know, its also disrespectful to the department of defense and all of the people that have done this work. Appropriately in the right way and talking to stake holders and, you know, conduct iing tha took over a year and, you know, were pleased that the folks from the department of defense have stepped forward sen want to implement this. But, you know, the president s a bully. Hes like a high school bully. And you have to stand up to bullies. And land of legal, were going to watch this closely. And if this does advance from, you know, mere social media and any kind of policy action. We along with our Sister Organization such as outserve and the National Center for Transgender Equality stand firm and ready to respond in all ways. To do something about it. I want to followup on that in just a second, help us understand, just on a personal note, reading your incredible background, scout sniper, back in the 80s, served a z a transwoman, did your gender was that an issue when you were serving with your fellow Service Members . And could you tell was it an issue with you an issue with them . Absolutely. Well, both. In my service and by the way, im very proud, proud marine, and you know, its made all the difference in my life, and, you know, learn so many important values in the time that i was there, but i will say though, i lived in fear. And looked over my shoulder, you know, because of, you know, the fact that you would be just automatically discharged if, you know, the word got out that you were an lgbt person. And, you know, trump is seeking to move us back to those days where people lived in fear for themselves and their families. And our brave and openly serving transgender women and men deserve more than that. You know, theyre putting their lives on the line, and deserve much, much more. So yeah, it was a really difficult time and weve made steady progress and, you know, if you look back in history, you know, whether its desegregation of the military or, you know, having women serve openly, you know, these are significant mildstones that weve made in our culture. Without disruption. And ill also add, the justification for the ban is so flimsy, its ridiculous. It isnt a disruption. People have been serving over a year now without disruption. Whats disruption is a social Media Campaign significantly shifting a national policy. And also add in addition to the cost question, so, the military pays ten times more in viagra coverage than it would to cover our transgender, openly serving men and women. Yeah, ive had a whole conversation about that yesterday on my show. Okay, thank you. Totally aware of the nickels and dimes going in different directions. And i think also part of the point was, there were conservatives on capitol hill who were lobbying the white house on this specifically and they werent asking for an allout ban. They were surprised that this went as far as it did. 30 seconds, as a lawyer, if the president plans to follow through on the tweet, what can you do to fight it . Yeah, absolutely. You know, well look at all options, whether its grassroots organizing, well be Standing Shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with the other groups targeted such as the Muslim Community and womens groups. We will look at litigation, absolutely. Well be one of the options. Well be looking at a variety of causes of action. You know to challenge this and well resist and defend and protect our military service member. Sasha booker, thank you so much for serving this country and thank you for your voice as well today. I appreciate you, and i appreciate all of you for watching. Im brooke baldwin, well send it to washington, the lead starts right now. Thanks brooke. What happens in the white house never seems to stay in the white house. The lead starts right now. Mean tweets, coming from inside the white house. And for once, theyre not coming from the president , the new communicati Communications Director calling out the white house chief of staff and making a shocking revelation about the trump administration. Republicans scrambling ahead of a marathon session that could go well passed midnight tonight as the white house reportedly threatens an entire state over one senators stance. Plus, a house democrati
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