Remember, congress is going on vacation again. Do they have the votes . Youre looking at the current whip count. Weve got to say current because votes keep changing. There are a lot of uncertain minds. Right now you have 21 House Republicans against the bill. The simple math would suggest they can only afford to lose one more vote. What is the issue . Theres a disconnect between President Trumps promise for people with preexisting conditions and what the bill actually guarantees. So youve got a lot of lawmakers who are concerned that people on their districts were the most vulnerable, the most at risk. But some of this Health Care Debate is being overshadowed by eye popping interviews given by the president. President trump doubling down on his assertion that president Andrew Jackson could have prevented the civil war. And the president is also reaching out to some of the worlds rogue leaders. So we have it all covered for you this morning. Lets go to cnn Suzanne Malveaux live on capitol hill for us. Good morning, suzanne. Reporter good morning. The House Republican plan to repeal and replace obamacare still very much influx, some calling it a doordie. Asked last night how it was going, whipping up support, he said stay tuned. House republicans once again trying to create this sense of urgency to get something done before now they go on their friday recess. So far House Speaker paul ryan has yet to schedule a vote for this. Mr. Vice president , votes on health care . Going to get it passed . The republican effort to repeal and replace obamacare in jeopardy again. The white house ramping up pressure on House Republicans to bring the new bill to a vote this week despite wavering confidence in its fate. Have the votes for health care. I think we do. Getting closer and closer every day. Were not there yet. Cnns latest whip count has 21 House Republicans planning to vote against the bill, which means they can ensemble afford to lose one more vote or it fails. A big gamble for President Trump considering 18 other lawmakers remain undecided. Some republicans warning the no count could be even higher. Probably a few more no votes than 21 at the moment. I dont know what the exact number is. Ive heard numbers saying its within two or three votes and as many as ten. I would suspect its probably closer to ten than two or three. The core issue, how patients with preexisting conditions would be covered under the new plan. President trump insisting the bill will protect them telling bloomberg news, i want it to be good for sick people. Its not in its final form right now. It will be every bit as good on preexisting conditions as obamacare. But the bill actually allows states to apply for a waver, allowing insurers to change on preexisting conditions, attracted house members but alienated moderates. Surprise defection congressman billy long who supported the first bill with drawing his support complaining it strips away any guarantee preexisting conditions would be covered and affordable. President trumps lack of understanding about whats in the bill growing more apparent. The white house attempting to clarify the president s mixed messages. What the president is doing is ensuring Going Forward as we attempt to repeal and replace it that coverage of preexisting conditions is at the core of that. That is something he has ensured is in the current bill and will continue to push forward. House republican conference will meet in just two hours behind closed doors to try to build on their momentum behind this legislation to see if they actually have the support. Then at 10 00 thats when they will come out with gop leadership for press conference to get more information about this. We also expect the Vice President to be back here on the hill working in earnest to whip up those votes. Chris. Suzanne, thank you very much. Another story line youll hear, President Trump facing criticism for his praise of brutal world leaders, many with atrocious human rights records. The president says, quote, he would be honored to meet with north koreas kim jongun. As we learned trump is going to speak with president Vladimir Putin today, it will be the third time. Joe johns live at the white house with details. Joe. Reporter good morning, chris. That call coming at a time there are multiple investigations into russian interference in the last election. On top of that, you have this situation where the president of the United States is reaching out to strong men, dictators, desp despot. The president s critics say it puts the white house seal of approval on authoritarian rule. The Administration Says its all about reaching out and forming alliances against adversaries. If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, i would absolutely i would be honored to do it under the right circumstances. Reporter President Trump sending shock waves through the International Community with the prospect of an american president meeting with north koreas brutal dictator kim jongun, after praising the Nuclear Armed despot a day earlier. At a very young age he was able to assume power. A lot of people im sure tried to take that power away. He was able to do it. Obviously hes a pretty smart cookie. Reporter the president issuing an impromptu white house invitation to philippines authoritarian president rodrigo duterte, who is overseeing a deadly crackdown on drugs and openly bragged about killing people. The president s willingness to cozy up to rogue leaders with atrocious human rights records is sparking criticism from both sides of the aisle. What you do is legitimize a person who is one of the really bad actors in the world. White House Press Secretary san spicer left to clean up the mess defending trumps praise of kim jongun. Hes still head of state. It is sort of theres a diplomatic piece. The invitation to duterte, who has since rebuffed trump saying he may be too busy to visit. It is an opportunity for us to work with countries in that region that can help play a role diplomatically and economically is plating north korea. Reporter these arent the only comments, in an interview with sirius xm he made this perplexing argument the civil war fought over slavery could have avoided. Had Andrew Jackso been a little later, you wouldnt have had the civil war. He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the civil war. He said theres no reason for this. Reporter the problem, Andrew Jackson had been dead for 16 years when the civil war started and was also a slave owner. President trump later acknowledging this fact on twitter while insisting president jackson, quote, saw it coming. Trump also defending his unproven claim that president obama illegally wiretapped his phone, refusing to answer questions about his charge that obama is a bad or sick guy. You assistant by that claim about him . I dont stand by anything. Before bankrupt abruptly end intervi interview. You dont have to ask me. I have my opinions, you have yours. I want to know yours. Youre the president of the United States. Today the call on President Trump and putin scheduled for this afternoon. These two men have spoken three times we know of since donald trump became president but the First Time Since the Cruise Missile strike on syria which mr. Putin said he didnt like at all. Joe, youve given usa lot of material. Thanks. Lets discuss eyebrow raising interviews with chris cillizza, a. B. Stoddard and cnn Political Editor and New York Times editor patrick healey. Eyebrow raising, head scratching, insert your own adjective here in terms of what President Trumps goal is in saying some of these things in these interviews. Patrick, let me start with you. Lets play it one more time. He talks about the Andrew Jackson story more tan once. Okay. He likes talking about Andrew Jackson. He talked to celine, gave her this interview. Listen. Had Andrew Jackson been a little later, you wouldnt have had the civil war. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. And he was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the civil war. He said theres no reason for this. People dont realize, you know, the civil war yeah. Think about it, why . People dont ask that question. Why was there the civil war . Why could that one not have been worked out. Patrick, whats happening here . President trump has such an attachment to Andrew Jackson. His statement, hes a tough guy with a big heart is word for word how President Trump would describe himself on the campaign trail. And how he was compared to Andrew Jackson. Absolutely. He saw himself as someone who knew how to stand up, who fought for the country. Who, again, with so many confrontations. What he seems to either forget or leave out was the incredibly brutal record by Andrew Jackson to native americans in this country, sort of a view of executive power that would just sort of smash through any kind of obstacles. I think you see this in how President Trump, again, talks about dictators, about strongmen. Has he a view as long as your heart is in the right place and youre fighting for country first, things like legislative process and niceties dont matter. This is almost bordering on almost an obsession with him going to andrew jax as his way out. I get it. I remember the compare sons during the campaign. I would be slow to draw comparisons between Andrew Jackson and donald trump. Do a quick google, youll find the men got to office in very different ways. Not so much about historical obsession but penchant to ignore facts. Nobody asks why we had the civil war. Thats absurd, an absurd notion. People have been asking that since 1861. Many books written. The absence begins and ends with vagaries surrounding slavery. This is what the president likes to do, ignore obvious fact in favor of what he thinks. Thats exactly right. This is a pattern of behavior. Look, the comments about surveilling him being surveiled by president obama saying a lot of people are talking about it. No, youre talking about it. The truth of the matter is, everybody, fbi director, former director of national intelligence, paul ryan, barack obama all say its not true. Weve seen this over and over again. 3 to 5 million illegal votes cast. He had the biggest inauguration crowd ever. There were muslims celebrating on the rooftops after 9 11. Ted cruzs father wasnt potentially involved in the jfk assassination. You only have an hour long show, chris, so im not going to throw out all of them. This is what he does. He conflates opinion with fact. You see it in the back and forth with John Dickerson. I have my opinion, you have your opinion. Why dont you tell me what you think it means. Again, the facts are not on his side often. He simply says that they are. Whats dangerous, i think, for our sort of broader healthy democracy is the fact that when he says his facts, lots of people believe them, even thought actual facts give lie to what he is saying. Thats the issue here. We cant agree on a set of facts, which is not a good place to be. A. B. , im not a psychologist, but i do play one in the mornings on television, and i see a commonality, in fact, a Common Thread you can draw from Andrew Jackson to kim jongun. If you listen to President Trumps words about these two men, i do think there is a reflection reflective effect happening here. So let me read them to you. This is what he said about Andrew Jacksons campaign, since he does like to talk about Andrew Jackson. They said my campaign is most like my campaign and the win was most like Andrew Jackson with his campaign. I said, when was Andrew Jackson. 1828. A long time ago. Thats Andrew Jackson. A mean and nasty campaign. They said this was the meanest and nastiest. Unfortunately it continues. Then you listen to what he said just yesterday or sunday, about kim jongun. Listen to this. And at a very young age, he was able to assume power. A lot of people im sure tried to take that power away, whether it was his uncle or anybody else. And he was able to do it. So obviously hes a pretty smart cookie. A. B. , is it a stretch to think he relates to these people. He, too, got power from his father at a very young age and was able to parlay that into success. Are we just sort of seeing what President Trump values because it reminds him of himself . Well, perhaps. I actually think that sometime during the campaign, steve bannon told donald trump that his movement was similar to the populist attraction of Andrew Jackson and dragged him down to his grave on his birthday when other advisers in the white house, and this has been reported, wanted him to go to an event with Justin Trudeau in new york city and bannon talked him out of it. Its a populist hero he wants to emulate and thats why he likes to talk about him. What chris said is true. If donald trump it doesnt matter whats in the health care bill, everything for preexisting conditions is going to be covered beautifully. It will be simple and it will be cheap. Whatever he wants to be real is the way he describes things. So facts can be easily discarded. With regard to other strongmen, yes. We have heard him talk about duterte in the philippines, putin russia and others. He loves to cite their Approval Ratings. Brutal murderous dictators who have high Approval Ratings at home, he thinks thats impressive. Can you go back decades to hear what he said about what Chinese Government did at tiananmen square, they put down with force what has been going on. He has been talking in this way for decades. He likes a strongman. And i think if donald trump was concerned about human rights, we would know it. He never spoke about this in the campaign and its not going to be a concern of his. That said, in terms of duterte, he has reached out in a strategic way to the prime ministers of singapore and thailand at the same time trying to have concerted effort to try to sort of buffer the chinese and the south china seas and build this kind of Asian Coalition for north korea. So that is part of it. But the way he talks about duterte, hes in keeping with the way hes always spoken about strongmen. Therein lies the problem, which is that whats going on with north korea, you could sell it, see it as a strategy, trying something new. Thats fine. What we see repeatedly with how the president speaks in interviews and to the american people, it shows something that is considerably less well thought out than that. And remember, its a twofer, cillizza. You have a president who likes to ignore the facts and who does not like when that is called out. We just got perfect evidence of that at the end of the cbs interview. Let me just remind people about this moment . I just wanted to find out, youre the president of the United States. You said he was sick and bad you can take any way you want. But im asking you, you dont want it to be fake news. I want to hear prosecute President Trump. You dont have to ask me. Why not . Because i have my own opinions, you can have your own opinions. I want to know your opinions. Youre the president of the United States. Thats enough. Thank you. Thank you very much. Lets put the wave and rude ending to the side, thats his prerogative as president of the United States. You called president obama and bad and sick. That requires explanation. He didnt want to explain it. He gave a notional answer, well, you make of it whatever you want. Chris, its even worse than that in my opinion. I looked at the transcript yesterday. If you go to the transcript right before that exchange, trump is the one who brings in the issue of him being allegedly being surveiled by barack obama. So he brings that topic up. John dickerson rightly follows up with, well, you said he was bad and sick. Do you have any evidence of being surveiled . Again, this is what happens when what we know are facts are confronted with the world that donald trump creates. Ive compared him before to that guy in the cartoons driving the train and laying the track down one piece at a time as he goes forward. Thats sort of what you see. When confronted with someone who says this is not the best way to make a train track, he reacts the way you saw him react. I would add, John Dickerson not like john cuomo and chris cillizza, fiery italians. That was not a confrontational interview. Donald trump cant it is very hard for him to deal with being faced with facts. Panel, thank you very much for trying to help us analyze all of this this morning. Great talking to you. What will it take for republicans to get their health bill across the finish line . We ha