>> president left the building with his democratic allies, and had he rolled out his new theme. make america sick again to tram the big fight that they'll see next year and will likely shape the next election. >> the republican say repeal and replace. the only thing that it has going for it illiteration. they have no replacement plan. they have to replacement plan because they just can't agree. they don't have the votes for replacement plan. to repeal and then delay is an act of coward es. that means we don't really know what we're doing. >> that big fight. plus, other big news in the hour ago, including tracking live events at the white house and at the capital and the president-elect's latest attack on u.s. intelligence agencies.

with us to share the reporting and their insights, barbara, bloomberg politics, pr, jonathan martin of the "new york times", and cnn's nia malika henderson. the repeal part is relatively simple. relatively. republicans are trying to make, listen here, the replace part sound manageable. >> obama care is a story of broken promise after broken promise after broken promise followed by failing program, higher premiums, higher deductibles, so we want to make sure that as we get relief to people through obama care, we do it in a transition that doesn't pull the rug out from anybody during that transition period. >> they make it sound easy. the speaker saying it will be a stable period, but as we sit here today on the second day of this congress, republicans have been talking about this for years now. they don't have a plan, do they? >> no, and ryan went on to say, when he was asked, what is the plan to replace. he said, look, we have a plan.

we have ideas. there's a reason republicans came up with repeal and replace because just simply repeeling is not popular. it's not practical. it's not productive. they can't agree quite yet on what to do, and you heard chuck schumer four times use the word chaos if republicans were to repeal it without adding something in to replace it to. >> it is true that the republicans have plans, but, like you said, they can't agree on it. there's the ryan plan. hatch has the plan as well. how much it will cost, how many people will lose their health insurance under their -- what pz if medicaid? all of those questions unanswered because they can't

agree. >> republicans are, in fact, going to repeal at least symbolically obama care this year. i mean, almost certainly that's going to happen. the question substantively is are they going to take away the benefits they're offered under the affordable care act? that is the question that is unanswered. there's going to be some kind of a delay. i think that's the matter. yes, they will put a bill on trump's desk to repeal the law, but they'll sunset it down the road a few years, and what happens when we come to that point, and it's on the doorstep of the midterms or the 2020 campaign. do they then take away benefits without a replacement plan? >> politically that's very dangerous. >> part of taking things away from people, it's a big deal. part of the problem here is for republicans. the conservatives want to just go back to a market-based

system, and they will have at it. some subsidies for lower income people as well. i don't want to be too harsh there, but candidate trump has boxed them in. he has said i like that you can't kick somebody off your insurance plan because of preexisting conditions. i like. i want to keep the fact that you can stay on your parents' health insurance until you are 26. he has listed about a half dozen of the most popular provisions of obama care. they happen to be the most expensive. >> that's the reason why obama wanted them in. this is -- donald trump has given both parties a really important lesson from his years in business, which is never apologize, never declare defeat, always declare victory no matter what. this is a branding and messaging opportunity for the democrats to get right the message they never could while obama was president, and it's an opportunity for the republicans potentially to figure out how to keep all of these expensive parts but make it seem like it was their idea so it's okay. if they don't, if they remove those protections for people who

come and children who are in their mid 20s for, you know, all of these issues, they're going to have a major political fight when it comes to the midterm season. >> this has been one of the defining issues in our politics for the entire obama presidency. in a certain sense congress went through in 2010 and in 2010 enacted a law. the numbers support them that in the midterm elections and even in this past presidential election this issue worked in the republicans' favor. now the democrats think the tides have turned. you heard nancy pelosi say the only thing good about this repeal and replace is illiteration. let's listen to chuck schumer who helped them come up with this new attorney general e theme. democrats say republicans want to make america sick again. is. >> we had a great meeting with the president. virtually all of our caucuses attended. he was very inspiring, telling us we are working out our strategy, and we have a great deal of optimism that the good things that have happened in aca

are going to stay and that our republican colleagues don't quite know what to do. they're like the dog who caught the bus. they can repeal, but they have nothing to put in its place. >> the odds of that happening are about the same as the odds of my levitating, right? >> i think -- >> i mean -- >> i think you mean 30 years. 20 years ago hillary clinton tried this, and it didn't quite work for her. >> you are correct, sir. >> if you are talking about security, tip o'neil and all them, sure. yeah, i mean, i think that the odds of something happening here are very difficult, and i think the midterms are still, you know -- i mean, we haven't even seen donald trump sworn in yet, and the -- the senate map at least for democrats is not very good, so, you know -- >> but that could be key, right?

joe mentioned conservative senator democrat from west virginia wouldn't even go to the meeting for the president. he has said the president was somehow meddling. i think if this were joe manchin's signature and he was governor and republicans were taking his place, he might feel differently about it. it might be -- it might be a little bit of -- >> to be really cynical for a minute, on the flip side -- i know, right -- there have been so many problems with the exchanges and some of the more conservative states, especially in texas and arizona. obama care is very popular among the people who absorb the benefits of it in states that have robust exchanges. >> get out ahead of the, of course, we are going to have to fix this and get out ahead of it. >> they've gone back and amended and fixed the financing and other provisions of the massachusetts law repeatrepeate

but it was passed at the beginning so they can go back. obama care was not. therefore, the republicans won't come to the table. republicans won the presidential election. they kept their house and senate majority. they can make legitimately the case that this is what the american people want, but now 20 million people have gained coverage since 2010. 6.1 million young adults have gained coverage since obama care passed in a law. if it is repealed and republicans say they're not going to blindly repeal it, but if they did, nearly 60 million people could lose their insurance. that's the problem for republicans. how do you keep those people or most of them on the books, keep the preexisting conditions issues on the books and then call it new. >> you have subsidyize it by making everyone get insurance, which is obama care. >> yeah. >> or a mandate of a different shape. >> which is what conservatives used to think they would want to do. some of those folks are -- a lot of those folks are in red

states. some of them in kentucky, some in ohio. a lot of states with republican governors. folks who wanted to actually expand medicaid. it is -- it's one thing for these six years to be on the opposition to pass this repeal when you know it was going to get vetoed by the sitting president, but it's a whole different ballgame where we are now. >> can republicans settle their own differences on this, because you do have -- you do have sort of the free market conservatives who say this is not the federal government's business. you know, medicaid, yes. help the low income medicaid program. medicare for older citizens. >> there are folks who want a more sort of robust replacement, and ten there are folks -- john, to your point -- who don't want to do the kind of redistribution

that you have to do with rich people to subsidyize poor people. >> unhealthy people. >> yes. i step back for a moment on this. when in the history of american politics has there been a broad-based benefit that was offered to people for a few years and then taken away a few years later. that is a lot of people who are getting a benefit from the government, and, yeah, it's one thing for them to vote against hillary or vote against obama because it's a bit theoretical. if that benefit is taken away from them, it's not theoretical anymore. that's a political challenge that republicans know is looming out there iceberg-like. >> when do we get to the policy part of it? kellyanne conway, the president-elect's senior advisor said this could take years. republicans say they want to get it done by the end of this year in the budget process. right now the republicans say the democrats are the dog who caught the bus.

right now it's about if it's messy in a year ahead, who is to blame for it. do -- the republicans know we still have to debate a plan. do they have a realtime table? >> they don't at this point. if you look alternatively, maybe it's an opportunity for republicans. you know, they want to be able to say that they can manage better than democrats. that used to be the way that republicans used to talk about these things. they used to say we can manage government better. they didn't used to say we want to squeeze government into a bathtub. you know, that's sort of the message now. or don't have government involved at all. maybe it's an opportunity for them. they have tom price at hhs most likely if he were to be confirmed. he was an opponent of the aca. has some other ideas. we'll see if they can come up with something. >> an actual policy debate on washington d.c. wouldn't be a bad thing. everybody sit tight. up next from obama care to ethics. a lot of lessons learned on congress's first bay back at work. we'll see what that means looking forward. as after a dvt blood clot,ital

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cannot afford a twitter presidency. many americans are afraid, mr. president-elect, that instead of rolling up your sleeves and forging serious policies, dp policies, for you twitter suffices. >> with all due respect, senator schumer, in the first day and a half of the new congress and the new world order is any guide, twitter will remain a constant tool or weapon, you choose the word, of the new administration. the quick republican retreat yesterday from a plan to gut an ethics watchdog agency suggests a timely trump tweet can make a big difference. >> there's bipartisan concern that the ethics committee have not worked very well and have

accused many members of wrong doing that were later proved not to be the case. president-elect trump reinforced that today and had a big impact. >> we're only a day and a half into this. we will learn and learn as we go forward, but what have we learned in the first day and a half of the new players? senator chuck schumer, the one new face in the leadership. donald trump did tweet yesterday and republicans later retreated from this idea that they were going to pull the teeth out of this independent ethics watchdog. now, it wasn't just trump. the phone calls were lighting up on capitol hill both from liberal groups and tea party groups saying this was a bad idea. trump timed it right. in terms of the theater, he got involved in the fight. what did we learn on day one? this ethics debacle, joke with the republicans, i think will soon be forgotten. democrats try to make hay of it. what lessons were there? >> i think it was a good day for donald trump. he had his timing right. from schumer, i sounds like he is reading from hillary clinton's old speeches.

>> american people don't like him or he is using twitter too much, but, yeah, i think trump has figured something out. with twitter, also with the announcements around michigan and the ford plant, i think we learned that these companies like to get good headlines and like to associate themselves with trump. democrats have some work to do, and i think trump had a good day yesterday. >> the lesson to me is that gravity may not apply to donald trump, put it sure as heck does on capitol hill. donald trump may not retreat when there's a blow back on social media, a blow back with angry folks calling and all this, but guess what members of congress still do. that to me was a reminder that politics hasn't changed that much. maybe trump has up ended some of the rules, but we have seen some of the firestorms where one

party or one politician says or does something and there's huge blowback, and the next day they walk it back. we kind of have forgotten that in the last year and a half because trump is so adamant about not apologizing. never walking things back. gravity does still apply on capitol hill. i think that to me more than trump's intervention is what the lesson was because they were besieged with calls from angry folks back home. partisanship is higher than it's ever been. whether you look at the response that democrats or opponents of trump had yesterday, they were saying don't give trump any credit for this even though they agree that it should still be around, and, yes, google searches had spiked before trump had put his tweet out. even though members of congress will tell you, no, of course, trump didn't have anything to do

with me changing my mind, of course they're going to say that. they're never going to want to say they let the president change their mind. is he going to be able to weigh in at times even when he disagrees. >> also, it was really a missed opportunity for paul ryan and for kevin mccarthy to ashert their leadership early on in this caucus. maybe they did in some subtle back doorway where they sensed a smoke signal and said save us from ourselves. they apparently told their caucus this wasn't a good idea. couldn't stop it or wouldn't stop it, and it took this playing out in public and this embarrassing blow-up -- >> that's an enormous point. you have the new order here in washington. we will have a republican president in 16 days. we have a republican house and a republican senate.

paul ryan saying what a gift the american people have given us. >> this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. this is the kind of thing that most of us only dreamed about. the people have given us unified government. it wasn't because they were feeling generous. it was because they want results. how could we live with ourselves if we let them down? >> and, yet -- and, yet, on the first day, on the very first day to your point -- yes, we're going to have a new sheriff at the white house, donald trump. he is a republican, but he is not always a republican on some of the policy issues. that will be interesting on capitol hill. the speaker and the majority leader said we don't want you to change the ethics agency this way. if you want to come back to this later and have public hearings, fine. don't do this on day one and make this the first act and do

it behind closed doors. it was a committee chairman whole did this. last year he was going to be forced out, and now the trump people say he was essential. >> you want to kick me out over this, kick me out. >> one of the problems john boehner had which eventually led to his ouster is that he was seen as taking too heavy a hand sometimes with these members. paul ryan has tried to be trying to say he wants to listen to everybody. yesterday was an example or the day before of how that can be problematic and why you do need leadership to say let's get, you know, one voice speaking here. by the way, paul ryan probably learned he needs to coordinate with donald trump. had he given a phone call to trump and said stheer going to try to do this thing. give me something to say this them to say that you'll call them out. >> the irony is that the right complained so much about the

media coverage. well, guess what, it was the media that bailed out ryan and mccarthy here. were it not for the intense coverage on sunday evening and monday morning about this snafu, trump never would have suspended on twitter, and then it gives cover to all the conservatives. >> it's probably a good philosophy given what happened in the republican congress the last few years, but you would think on day one, the speaker would stand up and say i need you all today. we got to get day one right. >> boundaries. >> snoo who does donald trump trust more? intelligence or the guy who started wikileaks? apart from th, or from the things they love to do? with right at home, it doesn't. right at home's professional team thoughtfully selects caregivers to help with personal care, housekeeping, meals -

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>> julian assange is the founder of wiki-leaks. among the stated goals of asange -- a guest on a cable show fiercely loyal to donald trump. >> we have said repeatedly over the last two months that our source is not the russian government, and is not a state party. the president-elect apparently considers julian assange a

credible source. jewel julian assage said a 14-year-old could have hacked podesta. every other leading national security voice here in washington, though, thinks the president-elect is making a bad choice here. >> i've had a lot more faith in our intelligence officers and experienced analyst that is we have here in the nation's capital than i do in people like julian assange. can i tell you that much. i don't dispute the intelligence community's assessment from october 7th that russia or your russian associates were behind the attack on the dnc. >> publicly there very conservative military veteran tom cotton, senator from arkansas saying the russians did this and why would you believe julian assage. this is the house speaker, paul ryan, who tries to tempur his criticism of trump and tries to

bide his words. this is on the hugh hewitt show. the speaker of the house. asked the same question. >> let me ask you what your opinion is of julian assange. >> i really have none other than i think the guy is a -- for russia. he leaks. he steals data. and compromises national security. >> and he is wanted on a rape charge. >> i think he is under house arrest or in the ecuadorian embassy the last four years. yeah. >> let's foek on the first half of that. what does it tell us that 16 days away from a new republican president just about every other republican, including the speaker of the house right there says the guy donald trump is citing on twitter as proof or character witness for his skepticism is a sicop sycophant russia? >> the press conference that got all the attention for aca, and that exact quote was said and

you see paul ryan smirk and bow his head, and pence said, look, we'll find out from the intelligence community when we take a briefing with them with the heads of the intelligence community on friday. donald trump can talk to the intelligence community and those officials and ask for more evidence than anybody except for barack obama. the two of them can ask for whatever they want. i do think it shows that there's the biggest rift between the republican establishment and donald trump who is a right wing nationalist who this tried and true republican is this issue of russia and national security. >> excuse me for interrupting, but this is much bigger than that because this has become a political situation. people watching will say this is a political thing. trump's critics are saying this.

>> does he believe these people? actions will be recommended based on these things. donald trump, again, tweeting this is last night that the intelligence briefing on so-called russian hacking was delayed until friday perhaps more time needed to build a case. very strange. note the intelligence in quotes. he is mocking the intelligence community here. these people -- these are men and women, most of whom have spent 17 different agencies, the primary three or four agencies. most of them have spent their entire adult lives, some of them risking their lives on the battlefield. i'm not saying they're always right, but the fact that the president-elect is calling the intelligence briefing and the facts are actually that his briefing was not -- his briefing on the big russian report was not scheduled until friday. his facts are wrong, but the question -- the bigger issue is i was texting with someone who thinks trump will come around. this has gone from amateur and amusing to alarming. >> i think there are two parallel acts going on here by trump.

both on twitter and both really provocative, and one is seeming to take sides with julian assage, who is working with the russians against the u.s. intelligence community, and the other is kind of eroding the credibility of the u.s. intelligence community. if donald trump or the president and democrats were in charge of congress, hearings would begin immediately. >> can you imagine? can you imagine if barack obama, president obama in his early days took julian assang assange in a dispute or vladimir putin's side? >> i think the democrats in congress would investigate. >> to me it just is a reminder that there's a collision coming between him and his own party because for now the mccains and the grahams of the world, even the tom cottons and marco

rubios. >> bob corkers. >> they're averting their gaze. they just don't want to come to terms -- >> they hope it comes around. they have back channelled through mike pence. >> very careful answer today. >> they have back channelled through pence saying get him to come around. >> the assumption that at some point he is not going to to this because he raised his right hand and suddenly he becomes, you know, a churchill meets eisenhower meets reagan and is a real statesman, that's a hell of a gamble to take. >> he has been remarkably consistent on this. >> right. >> throughout the campaign of questioning whether it's russia, saying it was some 400 pound guy sitting on a bed somewhere, saying it might have been china. >> new jersey. >> new jersey, yeah. he has been consistent. talking about putin. >> why would that change? >> it hasn't changed. it's gotten worse. at some point he is going to be in charge of that intelligence community, in charge of those agencies and need them. how does -- what happens? are they going to be credible

then? >> are there any better inside players in washington politics than folks at the intelligence agencies? oh, my god. >> yeah. >> i mean, he is really playing with fire here because what happens is they start leaking. they start humiliating him and houlgts he knows about national security. that will, in turn, enrage him. what ze do? stop talking to them? stop taking briefings? >> the current president of the united states, who has imposed sanctions on russia that trump and his team have voices some skepticism about, but the current president had a meeting today and with the joint chiefs and combatant commanders. this is the military brass not the intelligence community. be you can tell right here in these comments from the current president of the united states, he is trying to suggest to the president-elect of the united states, you know, these people aren't political and maybe you ought to listen. >> we still have a lot of active threats around the world, and we still have men and women in harm's way. we've got to make sure that during this transition period that there is a seamless passing of the baton.

we are doing everything we can to make sure that the next president will benefit from the same kinds of outstanding advice and service. >> i wish -- i wish that we had -- it came up quickly so we didn't have the time. i wish we had the wide shot of that meeting. you're sitting at the table there with men and women -- i think mostly men at this meeting, but who have a lot of medals here. they spent a lot of time serving their country. if you have ever gone to iraq or any other place with the united states military, whatever your views about how they got there, politics of that, you can't help but admire their courage. that's a nudge, i guess. is that the right word? >> yeah. >> yeah. >> i think it is, but he is trying to nudge someone who said that he knows a lot about hacking. trump said he knows a lot about hacking. he said he knows more about isis than the generals, so, you know, again, i think he is hoping in the way that a lot of these republicans are hoping that he will stop doing and come around. >> this is an attempt to

negotiate with the military and the intelligence community the same way you negotiate with boeing and lockheed or carrier, and it's going to play out differently. >> yeah. 16 days. a lot can change in 16 days. everybody sit tight. protesters demonstrated outside the office of one of president-elect cabinet mates. we'll tell you what that might mean for his congressional hearings. that's just ahead. i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but no matter what path i take, i go for my best. so if there's something better than warfarin, i'll go for that too. eliquis. eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus had less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis had both. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop.

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>> donald trump's last full news conference was in july. noteworthy event because he used it to encourage russia to release any hacked clinton emails it had. he has taken a few questions since from time to time, but it is more than five months since he held an openended full bore session with reporters. he says he will hold a press

conference one week from today, on january 11th. his aides say it could slip to the 12th where, they'll be in new york to discuss, among other things, his plans to step away from the trump organization during his presidency. the anticipation builds for this event. we are laughing about it because he thinks he is communicating just fine, and we can negotiate this as we go, but on the issue of -- it has been oon issue, and he has prommed to come out in detail, and i have been one saying repeatedly give him some time. this is personal. this is his life. it's a pretty high bar, or is there not a high bar that he has to meet next week in saying here's how i'm going to step back and here's how i don't have a role. how does he navigate if his two sons take over the business? their interaction with the white house? >> this is really an opportunity for him to start out in a really strong position if he comes forward with something that puts a lot of these questions to rest.

it will throw many critics for a loop if he comes out celebrating are let's listen into the press secretary. >> the democrats have had in advancing that agenda. but rooted in it the tangible positive difference that their efforts have made in the lives of millions of americans and communities large and small across the country. that work -- much of that work would not have been possible had the president not been able to work evidenttively with democrats in congress to get so much of that done given the unreasonable and unprecedented obstruction that was erected by

republican congressmen. the president continued saying that should they still have a set of values and priorities worth fighting for. the good news is that those are values and priorities that most americans agree with and strongly support. those are values and priorities that lead to policies that made people's lives better and make our country stronger. the president expressed his envy for the opportunity that they have, and the president expressed his confidence in their ability not just to wage those fights with passion, but

he expressed confidence in their ability to succeed. again, both because the majority of the american people agree with him. whether it's investing in the kinds of policies that brings opportunities for middle class families. whether it is expanding access to health care for every american, making it not just a privilege, but a right. making sure that there are consumer protections in place so that every american can't be discriminated against because of preexisting conditions and they can't be subject to lifetime caps that allows them to no longer benefit from insurance coverage if someone in their family gets sick. these are the kinds much values and priorities that democrats have long fought for, and these are the democratic -- these are the values and priorities most americans agree with. that was essentially the president's opening statement, and he took questions from a substantial number of house and senate democrats, and most of

the questions centered on the proximate fight on capitol hill. the president had an opportunity to touch on some other areas as well, and it was -- the president really enjoyed the opportunity to go up there and was warmly received, which he has been every time by democrats on capitol hill. even when he has gone out there to address difference that is they have. i've got to tell you, in this case the president has gone -- in the past and you all have covered times when the president has traveled to capitol hill to try to bridge differences with democrats on capitol hill. that's not the case this time. there time the president was there to affirm his support for the agenda that democrats in congress are fighting for, and that uninimoty will be a source of strength for democrats in the years ahead, and the president encouraged them to draw on it as

they continue to fight for the values that they've been fighting for for years. -- >> i've just been informed immigration reform, infrastructure. some of the other issues that democrats are likely to be working on over the next couple of years. >> to go back to the question of what you want democrats to do. once the law is repealed, would he like -- >> been listening to john ernest, the white house press secretary. quick break. back with "inside politics" in just a moment. the best way to t two servings of veggies? v8 or a fancy juice store? ready, go! hi, juice universe? one large rutabaga, with eggplant... done! that's not fair. glad i had a v8. the original way to fuel your day.

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>> let's share a little nugget from their notebook. barbara. >> business roundtable. you may have heard of the group. represents a couple of hundred -- really interesting stuff today. naming josh bolten, that's george bush jib's former chief

of staff, as the group's president and ceo. he will work with jamie diment who is going to be chairing this group for the next two years. what's interesting is that bolden last year led a marnl push to keep donald trump from becoming the republican nominee. now says that was then, this is now, and trump has earned our respect, and we are looking forward to working with the administration. >> just want to give you a little bit of numbers on the last time donald trump held a press conference and now that he has promised on the 11th and possibly the 12th. you know, it's been 160 days since he has held a press conference. we have a widget on our website you can check out. he has tweeted 1,552 times in that time since, and if he were to hold a press conference every day between now and inauguration, he still wouldn't hold as many as barack obama did when he was president-elect. he held 18. george w. bush as president-elect held 11 in that shortened time. >> new world order. >> the first hearings on the apparent russian hacking are going to be tomorrow on capitol hill. senator john mccain at the

senate armed services committee. you can expect he and his close friends senator lindsey graham also on the committee to aggressively go after the issue tomorrow, and it's going to be fascinating to see how donald trump responds to the press coverage of that hearing. to me the question is if and when trump gets irritable about this and puts pressure on mcconnell to shut it down, what does mcconnell do? >> maybe we should get a countdown clock. >> yes. >> the race for the chair of the dnc. democratic insiders i talk to see it coming down to three people. keith ellison, tom perez, and jamie harrison, who is sort of the dark horse.

>> there will be questions that he will get in terms of how he will -- snoo in addition to the senate side -- a reflection of pence's critical role. not just because of his prior capitol hill experience and friendships, but because so many hill republicans still have doubts and worries about the president-elect. one very senior house republican put it this way to me in an exchange this morning. "mike is a true conservative, one of us. donald trump is donald trump." thanks for joining us. see you back here noon tomorrow

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hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. wherever you are watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. we begin with two major battles. president-elect donald trump's war against u.s. intelligence agencies, and the fight over the future of obama care. president obama and vice president-elect mike pence both on capitol hill today with opposing goals. the president trying to salvage his namesake health care plan. the president-elect pushing to dismantle it. meantime, president-elect trump ridicules the u.s. intelligence communities findings on what it calls so-called russian hacking. he also appeared to give credence to claims by wiki-leaks founder