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But whether, which camp you re in you can t have a debate about either unless we get on the bill. we need a yes vote. that s the only way to change the status quo. chris: senator cardin, this got even more complicated on friday when the senate parliamentarian said that some measures in the mcconnell bill, the bill that the senate majority leader is offering, are outside senate rules and may be out of order. so where does that leave this whole thing? well, if we go on the bill, if the republicans have the votes to move on the bill, 22 million to 33 million americans are at risk of losing their insurance coverage. all americans are at risk of losing quality insurance coverage. so if if we get on this bill, we re under what s called reconciliation, and many of the amendments will not be in order because they have to deal directly with the fiscal issues because it s reconciliation. ....
so we don t have an open process if we get on bill. we have a very narrow opportunity to really change this bill. chris: senator thune, president trump and you were at that meeting in this week in the white house told republican senators that you ve all talked tough when president obama was in the white house, but things have changed. here it is. for seven years you had an easy route, we ll repeal, we ll replace. and he s never going to sign it. but i m signing it. so it s a little bit different. chris: senator thune, if republicans block the bill this week, either don t vote to the begin the debate or given the debate and then go against whatever is on the floor, is that the end of repeal and replace? it s not. but it is a vote, i think, for the status quo. what will happen if and when that will to to that were to occur, we ll go back to the drawing board. ....
If he vetoes a bill, we will override his veto. chris: let s turn to the big health care vote this week. here s what senate democratic leader chuck schumer said. we democrats don t know what our republican friends are planning to vote on next week. i ll bet many republicans don t know yet either. chris: senator thune, as the number three republican in the senate, do you know what you re going to be voting on next week? is it repeal or is it repeal and replace? it s voting to get on the bill, chris. it s voting to open the debate. we can t change the status quo which is skyrocketing premiums and collapsing markets out there for way too many americans unless we get on the bill. so the vote will be at some point week to proceed to consideration of the bill. it s a procedural vote at which point all amendments become in order. there ll be an unlimited opportunity for democrats, for ben carden and some of his colleagues to offer their amendments, for republican colleagues to offer their ....
Trump agenda from south dakota, the chair of the republican conference, senator john thune. and from baltimore, democratic senator ben carden. gentlemen, before we get to obamacare, i want to ask you all about an agreement that congressional leaders in both parties have apparently reached over the weekend about a bill to impose new sanctions on russia and to limit the president s ability to lift those sanctions. senator thune, is the president going to sign that bill? i believe he will, chris. the senate passed it 98-2. obviously, both senator cardin and i voted for that. the house has made some minor modifications. we included iran, they extended it to north korea. but this is a bill that will go to the president s desk, and he should sign it into law. chris: you say he should sign it, there has been some pushback from the administration. they don t like the idea that it limits his ability to conduct diplomacy by imposing sanctions and limiting his ability to lift them. well, that ....
the question is not a question of if, it s a question of when. my argument, chris, is that we need to do it sooner rather than later which is the argument that the president made because this thing is spiraling out of control. obamacare is in a death spiral. you have seen, since 2013, premiums in this country in the individual marketplace have more than doubled. you ve got markets that are in a freefall, in a collapse. and something has to be done sooner. and i think that s why we need to get on the bill and start this debate. and then if people want to amend it, it is an open amendment process. there ll be unlimited amendments that can be offered, and the united states senate will have an opportunity to work its will. but that can t happen, we can t change the status quo unless we get on the bill. and i think we have a responsibility and a duty to the american people that we committed and promised that we would repeal and replace obamacare with something that s ....