A plan b . No, plan a. The president asked speaker ryan to delay this bill while he works whats that . Has the president asked the speaker to delay the bill . No. Said it was a rookie mistake before the republican caucus, whats your response to that . Thank you. I appreciate that. I think we have a pretty strong record on the republican side of getting bills passed, getting things done and so i know that they have a pretty strong record of passing things and telling people they can read the bill afterwards. We have done this the right way an we know that we have done wit the support that voters told members and the president who they wanted. Financially related, there are some former white house lawyers who served the Prior Administration who say that by tweeting from his official potus account this morning a video that was put out on official social Media Channels the president and the white house have violated the antilobbying law because of using money appropriated by congress, is that something thats been talked about here . It has not. That is not applicable to the president. I believe youre referring to 18 u. S. Code 1913. Thank you. The art of the deal is considered the closer, if it does not pass through, would the president accept the blame . I think when you look at the effort hes put in the number of meetings hes had. Theres no question how hard the president and his team, the Vice President have worked to get this done. At the end of the day we cant force somebody to vote, but as mentioned to hally, i think we continue to see support go with us. Were not seeing people fall off or come on board, thats a great trajectory to have and so i like where we are headed. Two clarifications, i think the issue was with the antilobbying had done but what the white house staff, so a question about you want me to answer that, let me read, the department of justice consistently construed that the antilobbying act personal lil under taken by the president his aids and assistant within the executive office of the president , responsibility and Senate Confirmed officials appointed by the president responsibility so theres clear a carve out for that. Next. When youre talking about the bird rule earlier. Yeah. Can we read from your answer that Vice President pence does not intend to overrule the its not a question of over rule the Senate Parliamentarian makes parresentations, the presiding officer determines the Senate Parliamentarian is asked for guidance. Sure and if it is something that would violate the bird rule would Vice President pence . Im not going to answer hypothetical bills of what he may do on this bill or another. Cnn reported yesterday that u. S. Officials believe that are investigating Associates President trump [ inaudible ] damaging to Hillary Clintons campaign. I was wondering if you wanted to respond to that. Lets look at cnn reported. They reported anonymous u. S. Officials told them information indicates association of the campaign and suspected operatives coordinate which had they admit is boarding on c cocollusion, the fbi cannot prove colugs took place. I think its more that cnn colluded for her for the this person may have done this, possibly could have done tabatha and at the end of the story if you wait to the bottom, it says the fbi could not proof that collusion took place. I have addressed this type of reporting in the past and this fits right in. Without getting exactly what the strategy is in the senate to get this bill through, is the president confident that the strategy thats being developed in the senate will result in a bill that can pass muster . Yes. And the president told us several weeks ago that if it looked like the democrats were going to filibuster judge gorsuch he would encourage Mitch Mcconnell the option, has he changed . The president has not spoke with senator mcconnell. Im sure after we get through tonight the president will have a discussion with senator mcconnell. Following up on jordans question and followup on hallys question. How did chairman nunes end up at the white house. He said he invited himself here, but thats sort of an uncommon way to get here, could you take us through the tick tok of how he got here . No, in a car. He literally gave a press conference and said im going down to the white house after he briefed the press. Is that the first time that the white house was made aware of the information i believe the information he shared was new. On health care is there any sort of plan if the bill does not pass tonight. No. Its going to pass. So thats it. Caitlyn. Now that you have been briefed, can you say if the information that nunes had is the same information that he had this week . Theres my understanding because i was not briefed on the contents of that was that he spoke generally about what he had seen in these reports that he had been made privy to but there was further details he wanted the president to know what he had seen and wasnt related to russia, again all of his Public Comments are that hes going to continue to pursue this, but im not aware of the specific nature of it. What will the president s reaction be to the republicans vote against the Health Care Bill and are they being encouraged to vote their conscious . Well, i think ive addressed this before but the president has made very clear that republicans in particular have made a commitment to constituents if given the opportunity to have a republican senate, house, they would enact a repeal and replace and paut into it a patient centered health care. He believes when he met with the house conference and met with the members of the Freedom Caucus, this is something we have talked about you took a bunch of these free votes and you got to vote for repeal and go back and tell your constituents 50 times, hes made it very clear that part of the reason he got elected is because he made bold promises to the American People and hes acting on those and acting boldly an swiftly with respect to this in particular and not just him but the house and senate have a promise they need to fulfill that they made to the American People. Will the president come out and make a statement . I think its going to depend on what time the vote is. Im sure in some way shape or form we will have a comment. Is the president no matter what happens prepared to take responsibility for the outcome of this bill . . What way . Whether it succeeds or fails. His name is on it. A lot of people think so. I think in the sense that weve been very clear this is a priority of ours, but again i go back to at the end of the day we cant make people vote. We have done everything to listen to them, incorporate their thoughts, ideas to make the bill as best we can, make no mistake and it that theres a full spectrum of folks in the house that have disprit desires but this is the one vehicle that is going to repeal something that almost every single republican has pledged to do whether they were elected or reelected and i think if theres a desire we understand not every member is going to find this perfect. In this case 216 votes, but its the best bill that takes into consideration all of the concerns and all of the goals and all of the values. And i understand in a lot of cases some of it isnt a question of the policy, its a question of the timing and some of the things that people want that are happening in phase three and phase one, but as we have addressed the bird rule to most people this archean thing in the house that dont have to deal with it in the senate and if it is loaded up with things that are stricken then it doesnt serve us any good. I think we have put together a very comprehensive approach to addressing how to actually repeal an how to actually replace. I think the president walked through what the house of Freedom Caucus today several of the administrative act that is secretary price would be taken with the authority granted to him by the obamacare legislation and by some of the actions that secretary took back in 2009. Theres a lot of concern about members on some of the consequencing. So this isnt just about policy, some of it is about sequencing and timing and the president and the team have done a lot to reassure them on sequencing and how this thing is going to act. So that discussion i think has continued to be very productive to reassure members how this thing is going to happen and take place. Amen. A minute ago you said there were members of the House Freedom caucus who were nos, and those who stood up and said mr. President im with you, can you tell us how many there were . Not yet. Im not trying to be cute. As we do the whip count as you can imagine weve got to make sure that this balancing act you have to make sure certain people dont fall off the end as you pick up people, but i feel very buoyed by the direction were headed in. Theres been reported the final offer was put on the table for these guys. What specific changes did the president offer them today that were new its not just changes, as i mentioned to cecilia, part is administrative stuff and making sure they have reassurances that certain things that secretary enacted when she enacted the bill that will be acted upon immediately and so there was an numeration of some of those things and aspects of support that would be given for the phase three bills about buying across state lines, increasing shas, theres a lot of talk about that and where it comes down to right now especially among those members. They feel very good about the changes that have been made to the managers amendment. Theres some question about the commitment that might take place in the senate so there was a lot of can we count on this when this happens . So some of this is working that way. Two questions, please. One as for 68 countries, there was advisor to the president of afghanistan speaking at the csis and day before yesterday, he was addressing mr. The foreign minister of afghanistan, what they were both saying or addressing these two think tanks that unless we control two countries who are financing and training saudi arabia financing in the name of charities and pakistan is training, so what does the president show message to this group at the same time mr. Syed who is wanted by the u. S. , 10 million and openly against the u. S. And pakistan, so where do we go from here . Secretary tillerson has been in the meeting with the 68 members of addressing syria and isis, im going to get ahead of the discussions secretary tillerson is having, but i would stay in touch with the state department. As for president ial American Communities going back 40 years it was 1976 when came all the way from india to new york city and he wanted to have a but they didnt have any resources, but mr. Trump at that time came out and helped the group to go on this festival, but now candidate trump among the in new jersey, same group who has been now at the white house this weekend peaceful prayer and vigil, theyre asking the president to come out or meet the Indian American community against hate crime or somebody from the white house. Well, i think we discussed the nature of hate crimes in the past and condemn the acts that happened in kansas earlier this year. Obviously im sure that this is a very important for them. The president is right now focused in particular on getting obamacare repealed and replaced. The issue in london. Theres a lot to occupy his time and im sure we will continue to monitor the station as well. Maybe some day. Well see. The president said to Tucker Carlson he wasnt if his people werent taken care of he wasnt going to sign anything and im wondering about the people who relied on him oipopi addictions. Thats a false choice. The problem with obamacare they took all these benefits and mandated them it spiked deductibles and a choice isnt making benefit go away, its actually offering options to people. Literally like any other service or product you have here in the country, where you can buy what you want. Sometimes its at a lower price point because thats what you can afford to buy, sometimes you buy feature os on a product, bu people should have choice in the Health Care Market as they do any other industry. Thats the point. Its not about giving or taking its about the point theyre being mandated a way and thats the point is that people should buy what they want and what is appropriate for themselves or their family. Right now, where do the essential Health Benefits stand . Part of this bill . My understanding part of this bill. Just the followup on maras question, i think part of the inherit question is a lot of people buying insurance not knowing what theyre going to need. I think if youre an older man you can generally say youre not going to need maternity care. Thats possible, but here is the question she was suggesting opioid drug insurance you dont buy that because you say i think im going to get addicted to opioid pain killer or drugs so is the president confident that they would be offered by Insurance Companies on their own volition . Like anything else i dont think you buy insurance for anything guessing hey, i assume if my house burns down im going to need to replace all these things, thats of insurance. Thats the same thing if you look at a Car Insurance plan, you evaluate what your needs are and make the best decision for you and your family. Sara. President trump did not collude with russian operatives and during. First part again . Can you say unequivocally and again, the way that the term associates is flowing around i dont understand what that means. If youre talk about employee tos of the campaign or transition, but the way this term Associates Gets thrown out. We talked about this yesterday, you pulled out a gentleman employed by someone five months and talk about a client he had ten years ago, no i cant unequivocally say nobody in his past who may or may not have come in contact with him, sat next to him on a plane, who grew up with him in grade school. The gentleman Paul Manafort is a Campaign Chairman right. I understand who he is. Thank you, im well aware of paul as i read out yesterday. When you use the term associate theres a reason youre doing it its because you dont have anything concrete, when you do come back and ask anyone in the white house, but when you throw out a term like that, can you be certain that anyone who works for time life turner, or who has visited the building thats what youre equivocally saying. People in this white house are often on background they are often sources devin nunes has used an anonymous source to paren h present his case theres two issues. What i have a problem with specifically with what your network did yesterday it was one subjective term after another. It was associated that may or may not be there, all one subjective term after another with naquo concrete proof, whenu use a term like associates you dont even put a timeframe around it its nebulous at best making the claim that you do and the narrative continues without any stash ya any sub tans yags. I dont think he ever said anything wasnt classified, but there are certain things able to talk about it because it was not classified. No, he cannot talk about the specifics would be any suggestion that you cant talk about the specifics, because part of whats happened is the individuals that are masked or unmasked are classified, so just because its going in the Public Domain doesnt mean its unless classified. The posture review is commencing with this administration. Can you assure us that everything is on the Table Including a lifting of a moratorium on Nuclear Weapons and also developing Nuclear War Heads . I dont have a full read out on that. Ill have to get back to you. Katie. Sean, you keep saying theres not a plan b, the president says republicans should allow obamacare to collapse and therefore maybe shouldnt do anything about it but its not fair to the American People to do that is there not a plan b because the president s plan is to allow obamacare to collapse . No, the president s plan is to get the bill signed. Thats why the president has been fighting for it, trying to make it stronger and stronger every day, but he states a very clear reality which is if it doesnt do this, obamacare is collapsing, the premiums are skyrocketing the choices are going down the deductibles are going up. Theres know equivalency, something is failing and were trying to get rid of it to help the American People and the politically expedient answer to is to do nothing but in terms of health care and the needs the American People have we oh it to them to do the right thing. The split in the Republican Party to get this done, to the last minute, is it republican leadership, paul ryan accountable for bringing a bill to the table without having consensus from the Freedom Caucus or is he blaming the Freedom Caucus were not focused on blaming, were focused on getting it done. Candidate trump, president elect trump and now President Trump have been selling this legislation as coverage for everybody, lower premiums, lower deductibles, and Better Health care. Thank you. Hasnt he put republicans on the spot with this legislation . Sure. But it is, so yes, thank you for the advertisement. I appreciate it. I think it will do that and thats what the point is. But a, theres some concern as i mentioned earlier about the timing and i think we have continued to allay a lot of those concerns, and one of the things thats tough to explain not tough to explain but just the reality is that if we dont do it the way we need to do it we need