You dont attack women. Reporter why does the president seem more interested in fighting the media than fighting for his legislative priorities . And new reporting that could suggest the first real link between russians and the Trump Campaign. Joining me for inside analysis are hugh hewitt, host on the salem radio network, nbc capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt, Malcolm Gladwell and katty kay. Welcome to sunday. Its meet the press. Good sunday morning and a happy july fourth weekend to everybody. And one day late, how about a happy canada day to our friends watching from over the border. Who knew health care could be so complicated . Mitch mcconnell had a simple plan, draft a republican only repeal and replace bill, do it behind closed doors, pass it quickly before the opposition could get organized. Then go home for the fourth of july holiday with the party having made good on a key campaign promise. Well, one by one republican senators began to announce their opposition to the bill helped along by a budget analysis that said 22 million fewer people would wind up being covered and that projected medicaid spending would fall 35 over the next 20 years. Then President Trump made life more complicated for mcconnell by suggesting repealing now and replacing later. Last night in an event honoring veterans here in washington, the president focused on attacking the media, not on health care. The fake media is trying to silence us. But we will not let them. Because the people know the truth. The fake media tried to stop us from going to the white house, but im president and theyre not. Throw in mr. Trumps tweet storm against two msnbc anchors which further complicated matters and mcconnell was left with the task of trying to save the bill by himself, which is now on life support. Are we going to get to 50 votes for health care by tomorrow . Is that a no . Reporter republican members of congress may have left washington, but they cant escape questions on their floundering efforts to pass a health care bill. Vote no vote no on wednesday the president promised health care is working along very well. We could have a big surprise with a Great Health Care package. But by friday, President Trump appeared to acknowledge that mcconnell doesnt have the votes, tweeting this. If republican senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately repeal and then replace at a later date. That threw a wrench into negotiations with conservatives who are desperate for a plan b that does not include the democrats. I want repeal and i want replace. If we can do those two together in one legislative package, im good with that. If were going to fail at that, we should separate the two. We made a promise to repeal obamacare, and we should keep our promises. Mcconnell quickly suppressed that idea but said, were going to stick to that path, pointedly adding, its not easy making America Great again, is it . Repealing without replacing it would complicate efforts to move forward if they want to avoid a democratic filibuster. Whats more, mr. Trump previously said that strategy was unacceptable. Were not going to have like a twoday period and were not going to have a twoyear period where theres nothing. It will be repealed and replaced. Reporter then theres the fact that an outright repeal likely has even less support than the Current Senate legislation. I would be fine with that. I dont think we have the votes in the senate to pass that. The legislative hail marys come as the existing senate bill is hardening. This week some republicans have cautiously suggested bipartisanship as a last resort. The best outcome, i still think, would be a bipartisan bill. I wish we were doing this on a bipartisan basis. If for some reason it fails, then the floodgates would probably open to reach a bipartisan compromise. With the senate bill on life support, President Trump further complicated the process by spending half the week attacking host Mika Brzezinski trying to support a bill. Youre president of the United States of america, the greatest country on earth. You have an obligation to be above this. Joining me now is health and Human Services tom price. Mr. Price, welcome back to meet the press. Good morning, chuck. Happy Independence Day weekend. Absolutely, and same to you. Let me start with where the add administration is right now on this health care bill, the president suggesting repeal now, replace later. Is that your official stance now . Is that an acknowledgment that the senate bill is essentially unworkable as it stands . No, we dont think so. We think leader mcconnell and his senators within the senate are working to try to get this piece of legislation on track. Their conversations are ongoing as we speak, so we look forward to hopefully them coming back after this fourth of july recess and getting the work done. Okay. What changes need to be made that you will accept . Is it more Opioid Funding . Is that what its going to do to pass this . Is it to scale back the proposed reduction in medicaid spending . What is it that youre comfortable with, that the president is comfortable with that you would like to see in the senate bill . There are three specific areas that are being worked on currently. One is the medicaid issue. We want to make certain that medicaid is a program that can survive. Right now weve got a third of physicians in this land who wont see medicaid patients. That means the program is actually failing many, many patients and we need to fix that, so we need to make it so that those individuals, if they transition from medicaid, that nobody falls through the cracks. That gets us to the second issue, which is making certain that folks who want coverage that theyre able to select the kind of coverage thats right for them and their families, not that washington forces them to buy. Then the third area, as you mentioned, is the whole issue of the Opioid Crisis. The president is adamant about making certain that we address this issue. We had 52,000 Overdose Deaths in 2013, 33,000 of those from opioids. The numbers today are worse than that. The president has told us and hes got a commission headed by governor christie to make certain we address this issue in a way that turns those numbers in the right direction. You said something to another panelist thats going to be on my show today, hugh hewitt. He was suggesting more funding to deal with the Opioid Crisis, and you were a little skeptical. You said, look, i believe as well that more resources are necessary but they need to be done in a way that provides for evidencebased treatment and examination of the crisis. We dont need to be throwing money at this issue. So im guessing you dont like the way Mitch Mcconnell is just throwing is that what youre suggesting, that looks like a buyoff of senators that are worried about it . No, not at all. In the past ten years, weve seen Overdose Deaths in this country spike to a high degree. The numbers are no better now. That should tell anybody who is sober and looking at this situation is what were doing right now is not working. Therefore, what we need to do is address in a strategic way, in a logical way, in a methodical way, evidencebased programs that can attack this scourge of opioid deaths across this land. We dont need to be throwing money at it to say were throwing money in there. We need to identify whats working and throw money at whats working. What youre saying is the United States is not prepared to say what money is necessary. Do you object to this . Because if you dont have the evidence yet of what exactly is working and whats not, are you suggesting that the senate needs to hold some hearings on this before they decide to throw money at this problem . No, there is a lot of what works that is actually known through the department of health and human service, through sansa substance abuse, through national health, through cdc. There is a lot thats known about what does work. When the resources are provided by the congress of the United States, those moneys need to go to those programs that are actually successful in mitigating the challenge of the Opioid Crisis and overdoses. I want to go to the larger issue here which is the cost of Health Insurance particularly with Older Americans with preexisting conditions. Aarp came out with their analysis, and they note because Older Americans could now be charged up to five times as much as younger people rather than a cap at three times as much under the current law, the aarp is calling that an age tax, that basically the older you are, the more youre going to end up paying in premiums. Do you agree with their analysis . No, i dont at all, and i think that brings us to the point of where are we doing any of this in the first place . The fact of the matter is premiums are up, enrollments are down. Insurers are leaving the market and thats before President Trump was sworn in. The fact of the matter is its only gotten worse since then because there hasnt been action. So what were trying to do is to bring all of those prices down, everybody. Premiums in this nation have doubled over the past four years, up an average of 3,000 for the average family. Thats a tax on everybody. What we want to do is bring all of those prices down so that seniors, young people, folks in middle age, folks who are naming their coverage by their employer, all of those costs come down. But not a single analysis, whether its Budget Office or third party groups, have mentioned this is somehow going to make premiums come down for Older Americans. While premiums may come down for younger americans, for Older Americans with preexisting conditions, these premiums are going to go up. There is not a single analysis that says otherwise. Thats because they dont look at the entire plan. The entire plan includes not just this piece of legislation, which is a significant piece, but its not the entire plan. The other pieces of legislation that provide for increase in competition and increase in choices in the insurance market, and then all of the things that were doing at the department of health and Human Services right now as we speak to make certain that were turning back the tide of all of the rules and regulations that were put in place previously that decreased choices, that increased costs, all of those things. If you look at it in its totality, and nobody is looking at it in its totality, well bring down premiums, well increase coverage, well increase choice and i believe well increase the quality of care for this nation. They can only examine legislation thats in front of them, not potential future legislation which is yet to be fully introduced. Let me ask you about the president s behavior over the last week. Not only has he unloaded on cable news hosts including folks that i work with, but he seems to not be trying to be helpful on health care publicly. Last night he holds a rally of sorts. Didnt talk about health care. He spent most of his time tweeting about anything but health care. Is the president too distracted here to campaign about health care . Absolutely not. The president has held multiple meetings within the white house itself, with physicians, with Small Business groups, with other folks who have been harmed by obamacare, with patients, individual stakeholders across this land who have told him and tell us repeatedly that the Current System is collapsing. Thats what the president talks about. Its in the area where obamacare is in place, where aca is in place. Remember, premiums are up, enrollment down, ensures people leaving across this nation before the president came into office. Many people in the senate condemned the personal attack on Mika Brzezinski and attacking on her looks. You had Lindsey Graham saying it was beneath the office. Ben sass, this isnt normal. Susan collins begging, this has to stop. Lisa murkowski begging, this has to stop. Does his behavior bother you . What im concentrated on is the job hes given me, and that is to make sure we fulfill the mission of the department of health and Human Services and that is the health of the American People. There is a whole array of activities were undertaking. One of them is this piece of legislation in the senate right now, but my job is consumed with making sure we fulfill the mission of the department. Im asking as a father, if your son tweeted to a woman like that, what would you say to him . Chuck, this is really remarkable. We have incredible challenges across this nation, incredible challenges around the world. The challenge ive been given is to address the health care issues, and your program, a program with the incredible history of meet the press, and thats what you want to talk about . The American People want to talk about mr. Secretary, with all due respect, youre blaming me for what the president of the United States has spent his entire week focused on . No. Listen to me. With all due respect. The American People are concerned about a Health Care System that is not providing choices, where premiums are going up, where the Insurance Companies are vacating markets across this land. Thats what they want us to concentrate on and fix, and thats what i and the president are working on. Why isnt the president as devoted to this as you are . I think that he is, absolutely. The fact of the matter is that he can do more than one thing at a time, and the challenge that hes put before us at the department of health and Human Services is to make certain that we not only just address the issue of this health care piece of legislation but address the United States role in the world as it relates to pandemic influenza, to address the United States role in the world as it relates to research and development, to make certain were on the cutting edge of incredible innovation thats available to decrease human suffering, not just in the United States but around the world. Thats the challenge that hes given to us. Okay. Secretary price, i dont think a lot of people envy sometimes the position the president puts you in. I understand that. Thanks for coming on. I appreciate it. Thank you. As weve said, the repeal and replace bill has been written entirely by republicans. But if the bill fails, an increasing number of senators have suggested that a bipartisan bill might be the only option left. This week i sat down with two senators, a democrat, tom carper of delaware, and republican bill cassidy of louisiana and asked them what it would take for the two parties to come together on health care. Whats missing here is the chance to do what i call regular order, and there is actually great value if you introduce a bill, we have some time to read it, we actually have a chance to hold hearings, have discussions, to talk to the cbo director and ask what the implications are. If we go through that process and have a chance to answer to members in the committee, we could help repeal that plan. What are the buttons hit . I think i have two, but mr. Cassidy, i dont think your side thinks were ready to hit the button just yet. I agree with some of what tom said, i disagree with other. We need governors involved. I for one have called governors on both sides of the aisle, including my own, including those from other states of the Susan Collins and i for the republicans put forth something called the patient freedom act which was a concerted effort to reach across the aisle. Gail lewinsky who was h. W. Bushs assistant, if you will. She said, listen, if he wont sign on to a bill in which they get to keep exactly what they have now with a 5 cent haircut, theyre not serious about working with others. We heard them speaking about how senator schumer got all eight senators in line, they can cooperate, et cetera. Until they decide theyre in line with signing onto the patient freedom act which allows the blue state to do what theyre doing now and a red state to do Something Different, im not sure were ready for bipartisanship. What do you say to that . This is a great opportunity to pause to say what is it in the Affordable Care act that we need to fix . I guess my frustration watching this, i sometimes look at this and say, okay, youre arguing over the details of the same structure. There are times and you guys sound like youre agreeing more than you disagree. I think we do. But the politics are getting in the way. Maybe democrats dont want trump to get a victory, maybe the republicans dont want obama to get a victory. I know that sounds petty, but it seems like thats what it comes down to. If delaware wants to stay with status quo, that should be okay with what the people of delaware decide, but if louisiana says we cant afford 20, 30, 40,000 premiums on the individual market, let us do Something Different. It shouldnt be for us to decide, it should be for the people of that state to decide, and if youve seen one Medicaid Program, youve seen one Medicaid Program. I would like it if youve seen one Medicaid Program to m