Transcripts For WPVI This Week With George Stephanopoulos 20

Challenging trump. From abc news, its this week. Here now, chief anchor george stephanopoulos. Good morning. Is this week President Trumps moment of truth . 50 days in, hes smashed convention, shocked official washington, and created a chaotic new normal in the white house. This week, official washington poised to strike back. It has been eight days now since the president leveled the explosive charge against president obama, accusing him of ordering illegal wiretaps against the trump campaign. A claim that president obama and numerous government officials call flatout untrue. In those eight days, trump has offered zero evidence and refused to answer questions like these from our White House Correspondent jonathan karl. Any proof on the wiretapping . Thank you, press. Guys, please. Thank you, press. Thank you, thank you, press. Thank you. Thank you. Please head out behind you. Are you going to provide any proof . Please head out. And now, top members of congress have asked Trumps Justice Department to either put up the evidence or shoot it down. The deadline, tomorrow. And tomorrow, a key day for President Trumps promise to repeal obama care and replace it with something better. Here he is exactly one year ago in st. Louis. Obamacare is a disaster. Were going to repeal it and replace it. Were going repeal it and replace it. With something great. Less expensive and far better. Were going to have gre country less and its going to cost the people less. I mean, how good is that . Better care, lower costs, everyone covered. That is trumps promise. Tomorrow, the independent Congressional Budget Office expected to go public with its assessment on whether the legislation President Trump is backing now will meet the promises he made during the campaign. Well cover it all today. We begin with the top trump lieutenant on health care. The director of the off of management and budget, mick mulvaney. Good morning. I want to get a sense of how the president will deal with competing promises. To repeal and replace obamacare. He wants a plan that will help everyone. Well have insurance for everybody. Much less expensive and much better. And during the campaign, he promised no cuts in medicaid. A tweet from may 7, 2015, i was the first and only potential gop candidate to state there will be no cuts to social security, medicare, and medicaid. As you know, so far, the independent Analysis Shows that 6 to 15 million americans will lose coverage they now have under obamacare. And about 370 billion less in federal funding for medicaid over the next ten years. How do you square that impact with the president s promises . George, as a lot of moving pieces at one time. Let me see if it can break it down to smaller pieces and parts and we can talk about a bunch of different ones. Talk about the coverage levels. The number of people covered. We continue to think, and have for a long time, that the cbo is scoring the wrong thing. Theyre scoring obamacare as it exists today. Not tomorrow. Obamacare is this close from completely collapsing. For example, i live in South Carolina. Were down to one provider in that state. There are four or five states down to one provider. The cbo is failing to take into consideration what happens to folks in South Carolina when there are no providers, which there may be as soon as next year. We dont think the cbo is counting correctly that way. But at the same time, we dont think theyre counting the right thing. Go back to the original idea of obamacare. People could afford to go to the doctor. They cant. They can afford to have coverage. A plastic piece of paper that says they have an insurance policy. They cant afford to go to the doctor. The president said insurance for everybody. I was on obamacare when i was in the house. My familys deductibles were over 15,000 a year. Other folks who dont make as much money as i did were on the exact same plan. Do you think they could afford to go to the doctor . Thats what were trying to fix. Not coverage for people. Not coverage they can afford. But care they can afford. When they get sick, they can go to the doctor. Thats what the donald trump plan is working on. Thats where we think it will be wildly successful. Theyll have less money to pay for that coverage right now. Less money to pay for that care. On the point of medicaid, the president said in the campaign he would not cut medicaid. This bill is going to reduce federal medicaid funding by about 370 billion over ten years. And still give better care. Because were actually giving the governors what they want. I was here with i think about 46 of state governors about two weeks ago. One of the things they kept asking for was more control over their own medicaid. I was in the state legislature, we would have begged for more control over how our medicaid dollars got spent. Theyre not begging for fewer dollars, mr. Director. But theyre begging for better control to get more efficiency and better ability to serve their people. The medicaid system today is a onesizefitsall system. We fixed that. You can provide Better Services for less if you get the federal government out of the way. Are you saying if the Congressional Budget Office says fewer people will be covered, many millions fewer people will be covered, the costs will be going up, that youre simply rejecting that analysis . I dont think the costs will go up at all. In order for this to be passed on budget reconciliation, it has to reduce the debt and thus save money. On the coverage, though, if it says fewer people will be covers, you simply reject that . If the cbo is right about obamacare to begin with, there would be 8 million more people on obamacare today than there actually are. I love the folks in the cbo. They work really hard. They do. Sometimes we ask them to do things theyre not capable of doing. And estimating the impact of a bill of this size is probably not the best use of their time. It sounds like youll reject. Senator tom cotton coming up next. He says its time to slow this down and start over. He told our jon karl that your bill is going to make the system worse than it is now. Lets listen. Im afraid it could make it worse in some ways. Insurance rates would continue to go up. Americans would have less control and less choice. Over their health care systems. Thats why i say its time to take a pause. Take stock of how we got to where we are. What do you say to senator cotton . Toms a good senator cotton is a good friend. I would tell him he knows how the house and senate work. Thing move through the house relatively quickly. This is still slower than obamacare went. We already had two Committee Hearings. I believe two more than obama care got. Well have another Committee Hearing this week. Another one next week before the vote goes to a vote the bill goes to a vote on the floor. Then things will, as they always will, and as the Founding Fathers intended them to, slow down in the senate. Im sure senator cotton will have a chance to review the bill to amend the bill. But lets not get lost on that, george. This is the framework. This is the bill the president has looked at and said, yes, this is what will work. If the house thinks they can make it a little better. If the senate thinks they can make it a little better, were open to talking about those types of things. Theres no reason to rush it. Its not being rushed as things stand now. He says this will increase premiums. I happen to disagree with tom senator cotton. One of the things many of my friends on the right, i used to be a member of the right wing caucus on the house. They would make the same complaints. My point to them is i think theyre discounting the value of competition. Again, go back to the example where i live in South Carolina. One provider. Under the plan that were talking about now, we already know that more providers will come into South Carolina. That competition, the competition republicans so often want in so many parts of our economy, that competition will tend to drive down premiums. Your former colleagues in the house have met with President Trump. They say hes open to moving up the date to phase out the medicaid expansion. Perhaps as early as 2018. Are you willing to ne gauche gnat that in the house . I was in those meetings. Ill tell you what we told them in the meetings. The bill here is a framework. Its a nice framework. We like it. Its a good repeal and replacement bill. If there are ideas in the house. I think congressman barton from texas had some good ideas. I think congressman griffin had good ideas. Like changing the expansion date. Perhaps putting work requirements in on medicaid. It would improve the bill. If the house sees fit to make the bill better, they would have the support of the white house. Youre behind that right now. How about the opposition of the aarp. Theyve put out an ad where theyre saying this bill is going to be an age tax on middle income americans. Lets listen. As Insurance Companies to charge an age tax on older american, combined with fewer tax credits, this could mean an 8,000 a year premium hike on those who can least afford it. Unacceptable. Second, the bill gives Big Drug Companies a sweetheart tax break while doing nothing to lower drug costs for everyday americans. Meantime, the new york sometimes is reporting that the joint tax xhecommittee is showi your bill will provide 157 billion in tax cuts to people with high incomes. Middle income americans will pay more for insurance. How is that fair . I think thats the same group that did the Television Ads of a guy looking like paul ryan pushing granny off the edge of a cliff when we first started talking about budgetary reforms back in 2010. My guess is that the millions of emails that that group and other groups are sending out today have a click here to donate at the bottom. Theyre not in the business of fixing things. Theyre trying to protect their own selfinterests. To raise money. Thats unfortunate that thats where a lot of folks will get their information. Look, we promised to repeal the taxes for obamacare. Thats what the bill does. I think we should focus more on the benefits folks are going to get from the improved health care, the Affordable Health care, not just Affordable Health coverage, that this new level of protection, this new bill would provide. Theyre pointing out, Older Americans, those from 55 to 64, are going to be paying more because Insurance Companies will be able to charge them more. And i seriously doubt that any of those analyses take into account the use of hsas. The lower premiums from competition. Listen, everybodys got skin in the game. Everybody has an interested party. Theyre trying to protect their own. What were trying to do is make things better for as many people as we can. Right now, the bill is doing exactly that. The burden may be falling hardest on older, middle income americans. Your critics are saying this is a massive transfer of wealth from lower income americans to upper income americans when you combine the tax cuts with the loss in subsidies for middle income americans. Im not sure where theyre getting that. A massive transfer of wealth . Were making sure that the truly indigent still have care. Medicaid is still there. We think its going to be even better. The people who are just above medicaid but still have difficulty buying their own premiums will not only have the refundable tax credit. Theyll have the ability to use hsas to pay for their their health care on a tax advantage basis. Just like you and i get. So, i dont understand the criticisms lobbed in that fashion. The bill actually helps a great many people. And helps them get something they need. Which is health care. Not health coverage. Millions will be paying more. And the wealthy get a tax break. Let me move on to the state of the union. George, im sorry. I wont let you move on from that. Youre taking that as if its gospel truth. Its the argument of a group of people who dont like the bill. We repeal the taxes in obamacare. Its what the republicans have done from the very beginning. The fact that certain groups will pay less tax is not central to the issue. We have done this in a fashion that allows the people who cannot afford health care now to get it. I dont know why some people are so dead set against other people benefiting at the same time. But those getting subsidies right now, theyre going to be getting fewer the tax credit is going to be worth less than the subsidies. Insurance companies will be free under your bill to charge Older Americans more. And youre falling into the exact same trap that i talked about at the beginning of the segment. Youre worried about giving people coverage. Its almost as if the president said he wanted everyone covered, sir. The president said that. He wants everybody to get care. Thats not what he said. The president said he wants everyone covered. What people want is to get care. When people get sick, they want to be able to afford to go to the doctor. Thats where obamacare has failed them several times over. That is the problem that were fixing. So that when youre watching this program, when you get sick, you can afford to go to the doctor. I had it, george. I have livered through this firsthand. You didnt have obamacare. I did. 12,000, 15,000 deductible for my family. Luckily, we could afford it. People making much less than i do had the same plan. They could not afford to go to the doctor. That was a broken system. That was one of the many, many reasons that obamacare was failing and people are begging us to replace it. And thats exactly what were going to do. Finally, congressman cummings is coming up on the program. He met with President Trump earlier in the week. Heres what he said after the meeting. He was enthusiastic. And, he he was clearly aware of the problem. And clearly, and he made it clear to us that he wanted to do something about it. So is the administration going to get fully behind this idea that medicare negotiate drug prices directly . The one im more familiar with, george, is where were trying to find a way to drive down drug prices. Congressman cummings and i served on the Oversight Committee together. We participated in a hearing together on the high price of the epipen, the one that cost 600 for two here and a couple dollars each over in europe. He and i both learned together, its government regulation. The inability for Drug Companies and medical Device Manufacturers to get things approved. Government intervention that is driving up the cost. I do know for a fact the administration is going to be looking directly at trying to figure out a way to fix that. I hope we can count on congressman cummings support. So he was wrong . The president is not committed to giving medicare the power to negotiate drug prices . I wasnt at that meeting. Its consistent to what the president is trying to do. Trying to drive down the cost of Actual Health care that men and women in this country have to pay. Thank you, director mulvaney. Thank you, george. Were joined by senator tom cotton. Republican of arkansas. Senator cotton, thank you for joining us this morning. I know you were listening to director mulvaney. He say this is is just a framework. This is the framework of repeal and replace. Youll have the chance to fix it in the senate. Can the this bill be fixed . George, the bill probably can be fixed. But its going to take a lot of carpentry on that framework. As its written today, this bill cannot pass the senate. I believe it would have adverse consequences for millions of americans and wouldnt deliver on our promises to reduce the cost of Health Insurance to americans. I would say to my friends in the house of representatives, with whom i serve, do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote. George, you were in the white house in 1993. You remember when House Democrats voted for a btu energy tax. Not only did that not become law, it didnt get a vote in the senate. And those democrats lost their next election because they voted on that tax. They call it getting btud. I dont think this bill can pass the senate. And therefore, i think the house should take a pause and try to get as close as we can to a good result before they send to it the senate. So youre saying house republicans, if they vote for this bill, will pay the price without getting any benefit . Im afraid if they vote for the bill, theyll put the House Majority at risk next year. And we have majorities in the house and the senate and the white house. Not only to repeal obamacare and get Health Care Reform right, to reform our taxes and our regulations and to build up our military and to accomplish many other things. I dont want to see the House Majority put at risk on a bill that wont pass the senate. Thats why i think we should take a pause, try to solve as many of the problems on medicaid and the individual Insurance Market in the bill in the house, and then allow the senate to take its work up. You heard director mulvaney. He said youre discounting the value of competition. Unfortunately, i dont think this bill, as written is going to create the new conditions necessary for the kind of competition that director mulvaney and i and virtually every other republican wants. For instance, this bill lees most of the obamacare Insurance Regulations in place. Those regulations have caused most of the premiums to increase not just in the oy oh bah ma kair exchanges but in the jobbased Insurance Market as well. We share the same goals of wanting to repeal obamacare and getting President Trump<\/a>s moment of truth . 50 days in, hes smashed convention, shocked official washington, and created a chaotic new normal in the white house. This week, official washington poised to strike back. It has been eight days now since the president leveled the explosive charge against president obama, accusing him of ordering illegal wiretaps against the trump campaign. A claim that president obama and numerous government officials call flatout untrue. In those eight days, trump has offered zero evidence and refused to answer questions like these from our White House Correspondent<\/a> jonathan karl. Any proof on the wiretapping . Thank you, press. Guys, please. Thank you, press. Thank you, thank you, press. Thank you. Thank you. Please head out behind you. Are you going to provide any proof . Please head out. And now, top members of congress have asked Trumps Justice Department<\/a> to either put up the evidence or shoot it down. The deadline, tomorrow. And tomorrow, a key day for President Trump<\/a>s promise to repeal obama care and replace it with something better. Here he is exactly one year ago in st. Louis. Obamacare is a disaster. Were going to repeal it and replace it. Were going repeal it and replace it. With something great. Less expensive and far better. Were going to have gre country less and its going to cost the people less. I mean, how good is that . Better care, lower costs, everyone covered. That is trumps promise. Tomorrow, the independent Congressional Budget Office<\/a> expected to go public with its assessment on whether the legislation President Trump<\/a> is backing now will meet the promises he made during the campaign. Well cover it all today. We begin with the top trump lieutenant on health care. The director of the off of management and budget, mick mulvaney. Good morning. I want to get a sense of how the president will deal with competing promises. To repeal and replace obamacare. He wants a plan that will help everyone. Well have insurance for everybody. Much less expensive and much better. And during the campaign, he promised no cuts in medicaid. A tweet from may 7, 2015, i was the first and only potential gop candidate to state there will be no cuts to social security, medicare, and medicaid. As you know, so far, the independent Analysis Shows<\/a> that 6 to 15 million americans will lose coverage they now have under obamacare. And about 370 billion less in federal funding for medicaid over the next ten years. How do you square that impact with the president s promises . George, as a lot of moving pieces at one time. Let me see if it can break it down to smaller pieces and parts and we can talk about a bunch of different ones. Talk about the coverage levels. The number of people covered. We continue to think, and have for a long time, that the cbo is scoring the wrong thing. Theyre scoring obamacare as it exists today. Not tomorrow. Obamacare is this close from completely collapsing. For example, i live in South Carolina<\/a>. Were down to one provider in that state. There are four or five states down to one provider. The cbo is failing to take into consideration what happens to folks in South Carolina<\/a> when there are no providers, which there may be as soon as next year. We dont think the cbo is counting correctly that way. But at the same time, we dont think theyre counting the right thing. Go back to the original idea of obamacare. People could afford to go to the doctor. They cant. They can afford to have coverage. A plastic piece of paper that says they have an insurance policy. They cant afford to go to the doctor. The president said insurance for everybody. I was on obamacare when i was in the house. My familys deductibles were over 15,000 a year. Other folks who dont make as much money as i did were on the exact same plan. Do you think they could afford to go to the doctor . Thats what were trying to fix. Not coverage for people. Not coverage they can afford. But care they can afford. When they get sick, they can go to the doctor. Thats what the donald trump plan is working on. Thats where we think it will be wildly successful. Theyll have less money to pay for that coverage right now. Less money to pay for that care. On the point of medicaid, the president said in the campaign he would not cut medicaid. This bill is going to reduce federal medicaid funding by about 370 billion over ten years. And still give better care. Because were actually giving the governors what they want. I was here with i think about 46 of state governors about two weeks ago. One of the things they kept asking for was more control over their own medicaid. I was in the state legislature, we would have begged for more control over how our medicaid dollars got spent. Theyre not begging for fewer dollars, mr. Director. But theyre begging for better control to get more efficiency and better ability to serve their people. The medicaid system today is a onesizefitsall system. We fixed that. You can provide Better Services<\/a> for less if you get the federal government out of the way. Are you saying if the Congressional Budget Office<\/a> says fewer people will be covered, many millions fewer people will be covered, the costs will be going up, that youre simply rejecting that analysis . I dont think the costs will go up at all. In order for this to be passed on budget reconciliation, it has to reduce the debt and thus save money. On the coverage, though, if it says fewer people will be covers, you simply reject that . If the cbo is right about obamacare to begin with, there would be 8 million more people on obamacare today than there actually are. I love the folks in the cbo. They work really hard. They do. Sometimes we ask them to do things theyre not capable of doing. And estimating the impact of a bill of this size is probably not the best use of their time. It sounds like youll reject. Senator tom cotton coming up next. He says its time to slow this down and start over. He told our jon karl that your bill is going to make the system worse than it is now. Lets listen. Im afraid it could make it worse in some ways. Insurance rates would continue to go up. Americans would have less control and less choice. Over their health care systems. Thats why i say its time to take a pause. Take stock of how we got to where we are. What do you say to senator cotton . Toms a good senator cotton is a good friend. I would tell him he knows how the house and senate work. Thing move through the house relatively quickly. This is still slower than obamacare went. We already had two Committee Hearing<\/a>s. I believe two more than obama care got. Well have another Committee Hearing<\/a> this week. Another one next week before the vote goes to a vote the bill goes to a vote on the floor. Then things will, as they always will, and as the Founding Fathers<\/a> intended them to, slow down in the senate. Im sure senator cotton will have a chance to review the bill to amend the bill. But lets not get lost on that, george. This is the framework. This is the bill the president has looked at and said, yes, this is what will work. If the house thinks they can make it a little better. If the senate thinks they can make it a little better, were open to talking about those types of things. Theres no reason to rush it. Its not being rushed as things stand now. He says this will increase premiums. I happen to disagree with tom senator cotton. One of the things many of my friends on the right, i used to be a member of the right wing caucus on the house. They would make the same complaints. My point to them is i think theyre discounting the value of competition. Again, go back to the example where i live in South Carolina<\/a>. One provider. Under the plan that were talking about now, we already know that more providers will come into South Carolina<\/a>. That competition, the competition republicans so often want in so many parts of our economy, that competition will tend to drive down premiums. Your former colleagues in the house have met with President Trump<\/a>. They say hes open to moving up the date to phase out the medicaid expansion. Perhaps as early as 2018. Are you willing to ne gauche gnat that in the house . I was in those meetings. Ill tell you what we told them in the meetings. The bill here is a framework. Its a nice framework. We like it. Its a good repeal and replacement bill. If there are ideas in the house. I think congressman barton from texas had some good ideas. I think congressman griffin had good ideas. Like changing the expansion date. Perhaps putting work requirements in on medicaid. It would improve the bill. If the house sees fit to make the bill better, they would have the support of the white house. Youre behind that right now. How about the opposition of the aarp. Theyve put out an ad where theyre saying this bill is going to be an age tax on middle income americans. Lets listen. As Insurance Companies<\/a> to charge an age tax on older american, combined with fewer tax credits, this could mean an 8,000 a year premium hike on those who can least afford it. Unacceptable. Second, the bill gives Big Drug Companies<\/a> a sweetheart tax break while doing nothing to lower drug costs for everyday americans. Meantime, the new york sometimes is reporting that the joint tax xhecommittee is showi your bill will provide 157 billion in tax cuts to people with high incomes. Middle income americans will pay more for insurance. How is that fair . I think thats the same group that did the Television Ads<\/a> of a guy looking like paul ryan pushing granny off the edge of a cliff when we first started talking about budgetary reforms back in 2010. My guess is that the millions of emails that that group and other groups are sending out today have a click here to donate at the bottom. Theyre not in the business of fixing things. Theyre trying to protect their own selfinterests. To raise money. Thats unfortunate that thats where a lot of folks will get their information. Look, we promised to repeal the taxes for obamacare. Thats what the bill does. I think we should focus more on the benefits folks are going to get from the improved health care, the Affordable Health<\/a> care, not just Affordable Health<\/a> coverage, that this new level of protection, this new bill would provide. Theyre pointing out, Older Americans<\/a>, those from 55 to 64, are going to be paying more because Insurance Companies<\/a> will be able to charge them more. And i seriously doubt that any of those analyses take into account the use of hsas. The lower premiums from competition. Listen, everybodys got skin in the game. Everybody has an interested party. Theyre trying to protect their own. What were trying to do is make things better for as many people as we can. Right now, the bill is doing exactly that. The burden may be falling hardest on older, middle income americans. Your critics are saying this is a massive transfer of wealth from lower income americans to upper income americans when you combine the tax cuts with the loss in subsidies for middle income americans. Im not sure where theyre getting that. A massive transfer of wealth . Were making sure that the truly indigent still have care. Medicaid is still there. We think its going to be even better. The people who are just above medicaid but still have difficulty buying their own premiums will not only have the refundable tax credit. Theyll have the ability to use hsas to pay for their their health care on a tax advantage basis. Just like you and i get. So, i dont understand the criticisms lobbed in that fashion. The bill actually helps a great many people. And helps them get something they need. Which is health care. Not health coverage. Millions will be paying more. And the wealthy get a tax break. Let me move on to the state of the union. George, im sorry. I wont let you move on from that. Youre taking that as if its gospel truth. Its the argument of a group of people who dont like the bill. We repeal the taxes in obamacare. Its what the republicans have done from the very beginning. The fact that certain groups will pay less tax is not central to the issue. We have done this in a fashion that allows the people who cannot afford health care now to get it. I dont know why some people are so dead set against other people benefiting at the same time. But those getting subsidies right now, theyre going to be getting fewer the tax credit is going to be worth less than the subsidies. Insurance companies will be free under your bill to charge Older Americans<\/a> more. And youre falling into the exact same trap that i talked about at the beginning of the segment. Youre worried about giving people coverage. Its almost as if the president said he wanted everyone covered, sir. The president said that. He wants everybody to get care. Thats not what he said. The president said he wants everyone covered. What people want is to get care. When people get sick, they want to be able to afford to go to the doctor. Thats where obamacare has failed them several times over. That is the problem that were fixing. So that when youre watching this program, when you get sick, you can afford to go to the doctor. I had it, george. I have livered through this firsthand. You didnt have obamacare. I did. 12,000, 15,000 deductible for my family. Luckily, we could afford it. People making much less than i do had the same plan. They could not afford to go to the doctor. That was a broken system. That was one of the many, many reasons that obamacare was failing and people are begging us to replace it. And thats exactly what were going to do. Finally, congressman cummings is coming up on the program. He met with President Trump<\/a> earlier in the week. Heres what he said after the meeting. He was enthusiastic. And, he he was clearly aware of the problem. And clearly, and he made it clear to us that he wanted to do something about it. So is the administration going to get fully behind this idea that medicare negotiate drug prices directly . The one im more familiar with, george, is where were trying to find a way to drive down drug prices. Congressman cummings and i served on the Oversight Committee<\/a> together. We participated in a hearing together on the high price of the epipen, the one that cost 600 for two here and a couple dollars each over in europe. He and i both learned together, its government regulation. The inability for Drug Companies<\/a> and medical Device Manufacturers<\/a> to get things approved. Government intervention that is driving up the cost. I do know for a fact the administration is going to be looking directly at trying to figure out a way to fix that. I hope we can count on congressman cummings support. So he was wrong . The president is not committed to giving medicare the power to negotiate drug prices . I wasnt at that meeting. Its consistent to what the president is trying to do. Trying to drive down the cost of Actual Health<\/a> care that men and women in this country have to pay. Thank you, director mulvaney. Thank you, george. Were joined by senator tom cotton. Republican of arkansas. Senator cotton, thank you for joining us this morning. I know you were listening to director mulvaney. He say this is is just a framework. This is the framework of repeal and replace. Youll have the chance to fix it in the senate. Can the this bill be fixed . George, the bill probably can be fixed. But its going to take a lot of carpentry on that framework. As its written today, this bill cannot pass the senate. I believe it would have adverse consequences for millions of americans and wouldnt deliver on our promises to reduce the cost of Health Insurance<\/a> to americans. I would say to my friends in the house of representatives, with whom i serve, do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote. George, you were in the white house in 1993. You remember when House Democrats<\/a> voted for a btu energy tax. Not only did that not become law, it didnt get a vote in the senate. And those democrats lost their next election because they voted on that tax. They call it getting btud. I dont think this bill can pass the senate. And therefore, i think the house should take a pause and try to get as close as we can to a good result before they send to it the senate. So youre saying house republicans, if they vote for this bill, will pay the price without getting any benefit . Im afraid if they vote for the bill, theyll put the House Majority<\/a> at risk next year. And we have majorities in the house and the senate and the white house. Not only to repeal obamacare and get Health Care Reform<\/a> right, to reform our taxes and our regulations and to build up our military and to accomplish many other things. I dont want to see the House Majority<\/a> put at risk on a bill that wont pass the senate. Thats why i think we should take a pause, try to solve as many of the problems on medicaid and the individual Insurance Market<\/a> in the bill in the house, and then allow the senate to take its work up. You heard director mulvaney. He said youre discounting the value of competition. Unfortunately, i dont think this bill, as written is going to create the new conditions necessary for the kind of competition that director mulvaney and i and virtually every other republican wants. For instance, this bill lees most of the obamacare Insurance Regulations<\/a> in place. Those regulations have caused most of the premiums to increase not just in the oy oh bah ma kair exchanges but in the jobbased Insurance Market<\/a> as well. We share the same goals of wanting to repeal obamacare and getting Health Insurance<\/a> rates down so people can get access to care. As the bill is written, as a practical matter, i dont see the competition occurring as it needs to. You also heard direct eor mulvaney on the cbos analysis before it comes out. Do you think the congress Budget Office<\/a> will make the passage of the bill easier or more difficult . He doesnt come down there the mountain tops with stone tablets. Theyre human, like the rest of us. They make mistakes. But they do provide an important amount of information and analysis that allows senators and congressmen to make informed choices. So, whenever that estimate comes out, we need to take it seriously. We dont have to accept everything and every conclusion at face value. But thats one reason i think we should take a pause and examine all the consequences from every perspective on what is sweeping legislation. It will remake onesixth of the american economy. It will affect every american in a personal and intimate way. This is not just the latest spending bill that Congress Passes<\/a> right before the christmas break and goes home and can forget about it nine months later. This is permanent legislation trying to remake our health care system. We need to get it right, not get it fast. Youre a member of the Senate Intelligence<\/a> committee. I want to switch gears right now. Have you seen any evidence that president obama ordered a wiretap on President Trump<\/a> during the campaign . George, i have not seen that evidence. But i want to go back to something that Barack Obamas<\/a> director of National Intelligence<\/a> said last weekend. He said he had seen no evidence of that either. But more importantly, he said he had seen no evidence of cooperation between any Trump Associates<\/a> and russian officials. I dont think that got the attention it deserved. The director of National Intelligence<\/a> under barack obama would be in a much better position than any senator or congressman to know such things. While our review on the Intelligence Committee<\/a> will proceed in an orderly and deliberate fashion, i think we should pay heed to a man who said he saw no evidence of such cooperation. Rather than do what some democrats have done, spinning wildeyed, hair on fire conspiracy theories. If the Justice Department<\/a> or President Trump<\/a> dont provide any evidence of the wiretap, does President Trump<\/a> owe president obama an apology . President trump said last weekend he wanted us to take up this matter as a broader look. Were going to do that. I hope we get to the bottom of all these matters. That we make all those conclusions public to the American People<\/a>. Cant the president get the information himself . The Intelligence Committee<\/a>s have asked the Justice Department<\/a> to come forward by tomorrow and say, is there any evidence. George, there are reasons why the intelligence community, in particular, the fbi, who often operates in front of the fisa court is reluctant to make public statements. It could reveal what we do and dont know and how we know those things. That is not something we want our adversaries to understand. Through a deliberate process of examining the evidence at issue, and determining what we can declassify, i think the Intelligence Committee<\/a>s are in the best position to make those decisions. Your rop republican colleague, susan collins, said she would be prepared to back a subpoena of President Trump<\/a>s tax returns. Are you . I think thats getting ahead of ourselves. Weave been looking at that wasnt done by the obama administration. That was done by the Trump Administration<\/a>. So far, the level of cooperation with our review is something deeper and richer than i have seen in my time in congress. I think we should proceed with the materials we have at hand before we make the decision whether we need to go on to additional materials. Senator cotton, thank you for your time this morning. Thanks, george. We have heard from the white house and the gop. Coming up, how will the opposition respond . I talk to two Top Democrats<\/a> from the house. Plus, halfway through his first 100 days, is this a makeorbreak moment for the president . Our powerhouse roundtable weighs in. Fifty years ago, humpback whales were nearly extinct. They rebounded because a decision was made to protect them. Making the right decisions today for your longterm financial future can protect you and your family, and preserve your legacy. Ask a Financial Advisor<\/a> how retirement and Life Insurance<\/a> solutions from pacific life can help you plan for your future. Cmohappy birthday attack. Im doing all i can to keep from having another one. And im taking brilinta. For people whove been hospitalized for a heart attack. I take brilinta with a baby aspirin. No more than one hundred milligrams as it affects how well it works. Brilinta helps keep my platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. Brilinta reduced the chance of another heart attack. Or dying from one. It worked better than plavix. Dont stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. Brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily, or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. Dont take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers, a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. Tell your doctor about bleeding, new or unexpected shortness of breath, any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. Talk to your doctor about brilinta. Im doing all i can. That includes brilinta. If you cant afford your medication, astra zeneca may be able to help. Or is it your allergy pills . Holding you back break through your allergies. Introducing Flonase Sensimist<\/a>. More complete allergy relief in a gentle mist you may not even notice. Using unique mistpro technology, new Flonase Sensimist<\/a> delivers a gentle mist to help block six key inflammatory substances that cause your symptoms. Most allergy pills only block one. And six is greater than one. Break through your allergies. New Flonase Sensimist<\/a>. The president elect asked, presumably because hes a new yorker, and is aware of the great work that our office had done over the past seven years. Asked to meet with me to discuss whether or not i would be prepared to stay on as the United States<\/a> attorney. We had a good meeting. I said i would absolutely consider staying on. I agreed to stay on. U. S. Attorney Preet Bharara<\/a> back in november. Yesterday, this weet. I did not resign. Moments ago, i was fired. Were back to discuss that and more in just two minutes. Ack to discuss that and more in just two minutes. vo do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; rage, rage against the dying of the light. Do not go gentle into that good night. We cut the price of trades to give investors even more value. And at 4. 95, you can trade with a clear advantage. Fidelity, where smarter investors will always be. And at 4. 95, you can trade with a clear advantage. Cough doesnt sound so good. Take mucinex dm. Ill text you in 4 hours when your cough returns. One pill lasts 12 hours, so. Looks like im good all night some cough medicines only last 4 hours. But just one mucinex lasts 12 hours. Lets end this. Fios is not cable. Were wired differently. Maybe thats why weve been ranked highest in Customer Satisfaction<\/a> by jd power 4 years in a row. And now you can love fios too. Get our best offer of the year. 150 meg internet with equal upload and download speeds, tv and phone. All for 79. 99 per month, for the first year with a twoyear agreement. Plus get hbo for a year and free multiroom dvr service for two years. Go to getfios. Com or call 1. 888. Get. Fios get the best. Get fios. And were back with two of the top House Democrats<\/a> challenging the white house. Were joined by congressman elijah cummings. The ranking democrat on the Oversight Committee<\/a>. And adam schiff. Congressman schiff, let me begin with you. Sounds like senator cotton doesnt expect the Justice Department<\/a> to come forward with the every day on whether or not president obama ordered a wiretap on President Trump<\/a> tomorrow. You have set the deadline for tomorrow, you and your colleagues. Do you expect the Justice Department<\/a> to meet it . I dont expect well see evidence of this either. I agree with tom cotton. There are one or two possibilities here. Either the president quite deliberately for some reason made up the charge. Or perhaps, more disturbing, the president really believes this. Heres where i think its consequential, george. If six months from now the president should say iran is cheating on the nuclear agreement, if hes making it up, its a real problem. If hes note making it up and its true, its a bigger problem. The question is, would people believe him . Would American People<\/a> believe him . Would people around the world believe him . That has real world consequences. Are there consequences for the Justice Department<\/a> . If they dont come forward with this information . First of all, is there information to be produced is one question. But more than that. Were going to have an open hearing on march 20th. Well be able to ask the director of the fbi among others is there any truth to this . Have they seen any evidence of this . They would be in a position to have to no. I think on march 20th, if not before, well be able to put it to rest. I dont think anybody has a real question on this. The only question is why the president would make up such a thing . So you believe director james comey will answer this in public on that day . I do. And, you know, if the press reports are accurate that he asked the department of justice to knock this down and they refused, he may welcome the opportunity. Hell certainly have that on march 20th. You heard senator cotton say he was citing what the former director of intelligence, James Clapper<\/a> said, last week. Not only had he not seen evidence of the wiretapping. He said hes seen no evidence of collusion or cooperation between Trump Associates<\/a> and russia. Have you seen any kind of evidence like that . I was surprised to see that director state that so categorically. Obviously, george, i cant talk about particular evidence. Its not unlike the 9 11 investigation. You had a joint inquiry and an independent investigation. They were looking at who was responsible and whether the saudi government, to use parallel terms, colluded or had some connection to the attacks on 9 11. At the end of the investigation, they found some sir couple substantial evidence that may have been true, but they couldnt corroborate it. I wouldnt want to reach a conclusion at the outside of our investigation. Maybe we will. Maybe we wont. Maybe it existed. Maybe it didnt. I think its our obligation to do everything as possible in as nonpartisan a basis as possible to answer those very important questions. I wouldnt start by concluding one way or the other. You also heard senator cotton say it may not be necessary to see President Trump<\/a>s tax returns to complete this investigation. Do you agree . I think if the evidence develops that one of the russian tactics, this was suggested in the dossier, is to financially entangle people as a way of exerting influence, if the evidence leads in that direction, his tax returns will be pertinent to our investigation. I think we try to develop the evidence. Follow it where it leads, and not leap to any conclusions on the front end. Are you convinced this investigation will go forward in a complete way . Ive seen that some of your colleagues say theyre afraid it will be a partisan exercise. Theyre going to walk away if thats what they see. You know, to be honest, george, i dont know whether well be able to conduct it to its completion. Whether well have the kind of bipartisan cooperation we need. I do know this. It would be in the National Interest<\/a> for us to do so. If, at the end of the day, we produce two conclusions, a majority and a my minority conclusion, that wont add any value at all. Its in the National Interest<\/a> to try. If we get to the point where we cant, its our obligation to speak out and say this is not legitimate. Were being walled off from certain areas of investigation. But i think we owe it to the country to try. Thats certainly my intention. One of the significant obstacles well have is whether we have the resources devoted to do this in the way we should. For that reason, i think we should have an independent commission. I want to give you an update. I have been critical of the fbi and their willingness to cooperate in the investigation. I can say thats substantially changed. Im very pleased with the level of cooperation were getting from the fbi. I hope that continues. Theres more to be ironed out. But i think thats moved in a very positive direction. Congressman schiff, thank you very much. Lets bring in congressman elijah cummings. The ranking democrat on the house Oversight Committee<\/a>. Lets start with news from yesterday that the u. S. Attorney here in new york, Preet Bharara<\/a>, was fired. Is there in your view, is there anything to look into here . Or is this just the routine removal of u. S. Attorneys that we have seen by u. S. President s before . Certainly, the president has the opportunity and the right to fire u. S. Attorneys. But, we i wonder, george, you know, just not very long ago, the president was saying that he was going to keep the u. S. Attorney there in new york. And then, suddenly, hes, i guess, changed his mind. Im just curious as to why that is. Certainly, theres a lot of questions coming up as to whether President Trump<\/a> is concerned about the jurisdiction of this u. S. Attorney and whether that might affect his future. When you look at everything, george, surrounding the investigations, there are a lot of questions that need to be asked. Again, the president does have that prerogative. Are you referring to the fact that on wednesday, several independent groups asked the u. S. Attorney, asked preet bah rahrah to investigate whether the Trump Organization<\/a> and President Trump<\/a> were in violation of the emoluments clause, for conflicts of interest . What has been happening is that there is an air of distrust that has been brought on by President Trump<\/a> himself. And so many others. We have over and over again heard things that have been just proven to be untrue. And, so, i think that in part, the president has created this situation for himself. But yeah, sure. No doubt about it. When they asked about emoluments clause and possible violations of it and the u. S. Attorneys relationship to that, that had perhaps something to do with it. So you think there might be a connection . There very well may be. But again, george, when you come out and you make allegations as the president has, which cannot be proven, and then, you find out the things are not true, you have now created a new sense of normalcy. That normalcy is one where, as adam schiff just said, you question almost anything that comes out of the president s mouth. And so, i just think that the president has to be ive told him this, by the way, he needs to be careful with what he tweets, what he says. Do less tweeting and do more leading. You did meet on the issue of medicare and whether medicare will negotiate drug prices. You said coming out that the president supports that. You heard the director of management and budget, he didnt seem to endorse that. When i asked him about that. Yeah, i heard that. But i can tell you that the president was enthusiastic about not the only proposal that congressman welsh and i had with regard to medicare being able to negotiate drug prices. He was also enthusiastic about another proposal. The importation of drugs from places like canada and other foreign countries. And so he made it clear to me that he was going to do something about it. But not only did he do that. He followed it up. I met with him on wednesday. He followed it up on friday morning. Surprisingly, to me, with a lengthy call, reiterating he was going to do something about it. Then another call on friday evening, around 7 00. So well see. You talked to the president about this three times this week, yet his director of the office of management and budget doesnt come forward on sunday morning and endorse it . Im just telling you what happened. The president , i was surprised, on friday evening when he called me friday evening. He called me friday morning. And we we have had now three discussions with regard to this issue. Okay. I want to move on to a different subject. We learned this week that the president s former National Security<\/a> adviser, Michael Flynn<\/a> had registered as a foreign agent. Had received 500,000 from a group connected to the turkdy during the campaign. You sent him a letter asking him about this. Yet this week he said he didnt know anything about general flynns activities. Is this something that needs to be investigated since your questions went unanswered . I think i think that clearly, theres some problems with the vetting process. That letter was sent november 18th, as you said. We actually got a response from somebody in his administration saying they acknowledged the receipt of the letter, shortly after we september it. And there were all kinds of red lights and yellow lights to tell the Vice President<\/a> and the administration that there was a major problem with general flynn. We i think that we need to look into this. To figure out why it is that we cannot properly vet people. George, this is bigger than us. This is bigger than President Trump<\/a>. This is about our National Security<\/a>. And so, im looking forward to trying to work with others in the congress to try to figure out how that happened. Were better than that. Thank you, congressmen cummings and schiff. Well be right back with the powerhouse roundtable. 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Do i have to . This is a tough financial choice we could face when we retire. But, if we start saving even just 1 more of our annual income. We could keep doing all the things we love. Prudential. Bring your challenges. And the wolf huffed like you do sometimes, grandpa . Well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. It can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. So i talked to my doctor. She said. Symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. Symbicort doesnt replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. Symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung function. Symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It should not be taken more than twice a day. Symbicort contains formoterol. Medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. Symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. 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Looks like im good all night some cough medicines only last 4 hours. But just one mucinex lasts 12 hours. Lets end this. This car is traveling over 200 miles per hour. To win, every millisecond matters. Both on the track and thousands of miles away. With the help of at t, Red Bull Racing<\/a> can share critical information about every inch of the car from virtually anywhere. Brakes are getting warm. Confirmed, daniel you need to cool your brakes. Understood, brake bias back 2 clicks. Giving them the agility to have speed precision. Because no one knows like at t. Cmohappy birthday i survived a heart attack. Im doing all i can to keep from having another one. And im taking brilinta. For people whove been hospitalized for a heart attack. I take brilinta with a baby aspirin. No more than one hundred milligrams as it affects how well it works. Brilinta helps keep my platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. Brilinta reduced the chance of another heart attack. Or dying from one. It worked better than plavix. Dont stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. Brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily, or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. Dont take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers, a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. Tell your doctor about bleeding, new or unexpected shortness of breath, any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. Talk to your doctor about brilinta. Im doing all i can. That includes brilinta. If you cant afford your medication, astra zeneca may be able to help. Say carl, we have a question about your brokerage fees. Fees . What did you have in mind . I dont know. 4. 95 per trade . Uhhh. And i was wondering if your brokerage offers some sort of guarantee . Guarantee . Where we can get our fees and commissions back if were not happy. So can you offer me what schwab is offering . Whats with all the questions . Ask your broker if theyre offering 4. 95 online equity trades and a satisfaction guarantee. If you dont like their answer, ask again at schwab. We have a phony jobs number. They say its down to 5 . The real number is 25 . Dont believe those phony numbers when you hear 4. 9 and 5 unemployment. The 5 unemployment number is a total phony number. It was made up by politicians to make them look good. I talked to the president prior to this. He said to quote him very clearly. They may have been phony in the past. But theyre real now. What a difference a good jobs report can be. Joined by rich lowry. Katrina vanden heuvel. Republican strategist and pollster Kristen Soltis<\/a> anderson. And jamal simmons. Democratic strategist. This Administration Says<\/a> if a group gives you any information you like, its all good. The cbo, according to mick mulvaney, not so good. When you look at everything happening on health care right now, how much trouble is this bill in . There are a lot of divides in washington these days. Between conservative and Establishment Republicans<\/a> and others. Whats going to make this Health Care Debate<\/a> is can trump pull it over the finish line . A lot of folks in the House Freedom<\/a> caucus who, they would love nothing more than to go back to their districts to say, they stuck to it the man, establishment, leadership. That means sticking to it President Trump<\/a> . But if it means sticking it to President Trump<\/a>, that changes the calculations. They wound up having trump win by an average of 25 points. These are places where donald trump is very popular. If he gets behind this fully, if this is trumpcare, it will be a lot harder to vote against it. Do you agree . He could end up being lbj with a twitter feed. Its going to be very uncomfortable if youre a last handful of holdouts and he gives you a nickname and he goes after you, you will experience a ferocious internal Party Pressure<\/a> the likeses you do you think hell do that . He seems to be trying to cajole right now. The house guys, they are very dependent on the idea that trump will stick with this thing and help get it through. If this thing passes and goes through the house and senate before easter the way they plan, it will be one of the most significant just sheer exercises of political muscle we have ever seen. So stepping back apart from the transactional, this is a betrayal of trumps own voters. If this goes through as it is, eviscerating medicaid. Cutting health care for the rural people who voted for him for lowincome people. Older people. So i think thats something the democrats need to expose and i think, you know, were sitting here 52 days from trumps presidency. Hes tested the values of our country, the stamina of our country. A passel of broken promises. Lots of lies. One thing that i take heart from is that millions of people are engaged now. We talk about the resistance. We need to go from resistance to rebuilding, to recommitting. People running for office. I think health care becomes the issue for 2018. If we can expose the broken promises. You showed pictures of trump saying people will get Better Health<\/a> care at low cost. Im not going to cut medicaid. Hes doing that. Katrina mentioned 2018. You heard tom cotton right there say, telling his colleagues in the house, if you vote for this, youre going to be in trouble. I totally believe theyll be in trouble. This is the most irresponsible act by people. Two of these Freedom Caucus<\/a> members voted for the bill. How do you vote for a bill when youre not completely sure how much it costs when you were elected to have open and accountable numbers. They need to get the cbo numbers out. If there is something wrong with the cbo, its run by a republican appointed by the bush white house. Get to the bottom of it. Cut 54 billion out of domestic spending, it takes things out of the great lakes restoration fund, from 100 million down to 10 million. Or the Chesapeake Bay<\/a> fund. Which goes down to 5 million from 75 million. Clean water is at stake here. People in america are very concerned about that. Let me pick up the point about what this all means for trump voters, that katrina made. The New York Times<\/a> did an analysis this week. First one i have seen. The look at who loses in the repeal bill. They believe that the subsidies losses are falling heaviest, kristen, on those voters who voted, most overwhelmingly, for President Trump<\/a>. So where how do members deal with that . On the one hand, they promised to repeal and replace obamacare. On the other hand, the impact is on those most supportive of the president. This is going to put a lot of folks in a tough position. To the point we were discussing earlier. Theres a chance that donald trump does not stick with this all the way through until the end. That he begins to see the writing on the wall. If this does not get through the house quickly, does begin to change his posture. Donald trump never likes to be on the losing side of anything. Likes to position himself as having put himself into the winning side. It would not surprise me if trumps voters begin to be very vocal and push back against this. If trumps voters wind up saying they want this less and trump is not able to sell them on it in some way, i can see him beginning to backpedal and say, this is just one part of this. The cbo score, i think it will be fine on the cost. It will be devastating on the coverage. And they need to Pay Attention<\/a> to that. Think the cbo theyre trying to say that wasnt the president s promise. Its unachievable that everyone is going to be covered. But they do need to Pay Attention<\/a> to the coverage numbers. This whole process is built on speed, rather than getting it right. Ryan thinks every day that passes, he loses momentum. He does. They should take a breath and try to get it right. But theyre rap ramming it through. Theyre worried about the cbo estimate. But theyre also worried about numbers. 20 Million People<\/a> were not covered prior to the passage of obamacare. Im not being this is not unrealistic. People will die because of loss of coverage. The main thing to me is, just on the broken promises, President Trump<\/a> promised to drain the swamp. Hes filled it with billionaires and bankers. Its a government of the 1 . This health care, trumpcare, is essentially a massive redistribution of wealth through tax cuts for the rich. Through this bill. And were seeing if way that trump has normalized. He speaks to voters who want disruption. And you cant blame a lot of his voters. Because there is anger in the country. But this is the Bipartisan Committee<\/a> for the responsible budget says the 0. 9 surcharge cut could lead to medicare being insolvent. This is the kind of thing that people ought to be worried about. For an accountable and open government, this is not what were getting. When it comes to things like the changes in the taxes, the reason some people are excited, obamacare was funded with a little taxes here and there. It changes the way that the federal government engages with medicaid, hoping to make it more fiscally responsible. Oh no. Hold on a second. To rich. I take your point on the repeal. When you look at the specifics of the tax cuts and you heard the director, he just disthe missed it. The overwhelming going to people who earn over 1 million a year. Theyre giving this tax break to Insurance Companies<\/a> that will subsidize milliondollar salaries. Isnt that going to be difficult to defend . I dont think they should play that game. Obama increased taxes on the rich. Theyre just rolling them back. Theyre not going further and saying lets cut taxes for the rich more. Lets not mistake. Its not just a partisan talking point that obamacare is unraveling. Its a fact. You have premiums skyrocketing. You have insurers dropping out. You had a major executive saying a few weeks ago that Obamacare Exchanges<\/a> are in a death spiral. But the buyins stayed stable in the last round of signups. One thing thats lost this all of this. Medicare. Medicare and medicaid are the two Great Success<\/a> stories of this country. We should be building on medicare and medicaid, which are more efficient than private insurance. Building on the costsaving advances of obamacare. And not rolling back, taking us back as the Republican Party<\/a> is doing. It is not making America Great<\/a> again. I want to move on to the issue of wiretaps and President Trump<\/a>s charge. You heard the members of congress say they dont expect the Justice Department<\/a> to come forward. How much longer can the president go without addressing this is this you saw him basically go underground this week and refuse to answer any questions. I think concerns about Donald Trumps<\/a> engagements with countries like russia is whats holding President Trump<\/a> back. You ask voters how they think hes doing on the economy. 55 approval on the economy. Those are great numbers. When you look at where his numbers normally are. But when you ask about foreign affairs, his worst numbers. 55 disapproval. A lot of it is because we, as americans, are viewing russia as a greater threat than ever before. As long as these questions stay out there. As long as this continues to be a headline, it will be an anchor on trumps numbers. He tweeted this because he was angry. Its really based on no facts, as far as we can tell. You can tell from the body language at the white house, they want to memoryhole this thing. If they wanted to get to the bottom of it, they would ask for any socalled fisa warrants and know immediately what the facts were. Is that okay . No, obviously, he should not tweet things that are untrue. I think we need an independent investigation into the allegations of russias interference in the election. However, i think the democrats make a mistake by fixating on it at the expense of a real alternative bold jobs program. A trade program. An infrastructure program. Donald trump is prancing around like a circus barker talking about jobs. The democrats need to lay out a real bold program. Ill quote my dad on this who is in detroidetroit, he said, something is stanky with the Trump Administration<\/a> when it comes to russia. We dont know what it is. Its like you open the refrigerator, you know something is bad, you cant figure out what it is. Thats why we need an independent investigation. Until we have some sort of independent investigation, there will be a lot of questions a lot of americans will have. This will haunt all the trump and ryan republicans who are helping him on this. Will they hold the line against the independent investigation . Well, i think trumps focused mostly on his own voters. When you look at the polls, there are huge republican divides over concerns about russia. When you frame it as do you need an independent prosecutor or is this Something Congress<\/a> can handle . When you handle it that way, suddenly peoples aversion to Congress Kicks<\/a> in and people say, no, no, no. We need something independent. When you ask should there be a special prosecutor . Republicans and people who voted for trump think this is much a do about nothing. I dont think trump is feeling pressures from his constituency. I have yet to hear a plausible theory of why the russians would have to coordinate with the trump campaign. They hacked. They walked metaphorically across the street and gave it to wikileaks to distribute. If theyre not guilty, they should stop acting like it. That is the last word for today. Thank you all very much. Well be right back. That is all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. Check out world news tonight. And ill see you tomorrow on gma. Im monica malpass. Philadelphias proposed budget has a long wish list. Will it fly . Lets get the inside story. Good morning. Welcome to inside story, and lets meet our insiders today. They are ajay raju, attorney. Good morning, sir. Welcome to you. Brian tierney, marketing executive. Great to have you back. Nelson diaz, attorney and former judge. Good morning, monica. Thank you for being here. And christine flowers, journalist and attorney. Thank you all for your ideas and for your time. Philadelphia has a proposed 4. 4 billion budget. It did grow from last years budget. But it seems to want to do a lot of important things capping i95, spur some Economic Development<\/a> down there, more housing rapid housing for the homeless, as it were repaving a lot of roads and potholes, and, of course, increasing l i staff cause good news we have 31 projects that need to be inspected. So, it seems like hitting on all the high marks","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia801400.us.archive.org\/29\/items\/WPVI_20170312_143000_This_Week_With_George_Stephanopoulos\/WPVI_20170312_143000_This_Week_With_George_Stephanopoulos.thumbs\/WPVI_20170312_143000_This_Week_With_George_Stephanopoulos_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240627T12:35:10+00:00"}