gets get right to it. >> it's a complicated process, but actually it's very simple. it's called good health care. >> we are united on repeal but divided on replacement. >> the nightmare of obamacare is about to end. >> trumpcare is here, and you are going to hate it. >> where is the proof that president obama bugged president trump? >> we have no further comment. >> i think a lot of things he says you guys sometimes take literally. >> i very much support the appointment of a special prosecutor. >> i don't know anything but what i've read in the newspaper. >> he perjured himself. >> senator sessions should come back. he owes it to this committee to explain himself. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> welcome to "new day." it is wednesday, march 8th. president trump turning up the heat on house republicans

demanding they pass their bill to repeal and replace obamacare or risk what he calls an electoral blood bath in 2018. it comes as two house committees begin preparing the health care overhaul for a full vote later this month. >> there could be winners and losers in this bill. we're going to show you both. but we still have nothing to show you on the other big story, president trump's suggestion without proof that president obama wiretapped him. the house intelligence committee leaders say they will investigate this claim as they officially set a date to begin hearings on russia's meddling in the presidential election. we are 48 days into the trump administration. we have every angle covered. let's begin with sunlen serfaty live on capitol hill. >> reporter: today is such a critical day on capitol hill for the fate of this health care bill. two house committees will start working on the markup of the bill. they are preparing to work potentially into the night trying to get to a final product that can potentially pass on the house floor, but this bill certainly still faces an avalanche of criticism coming

from many republicans and even the power of the bully pulpit hasn't done enough to twist arms just yet. >> we're going to take action. >> reporter: president trump convening with top house republicans, warning them they could face a bloodbath in midterms if they don't repeal and replace obamacare. >> there's going to be no waiting and no more excuses by anybody. >> reporter: divisions in the gop over their replacement bill could derail the proposal only one day after its release. >> this is not the repeal bill we've been waiting for. this is a huge opportunity that's been missed. >> reporter: conservative lawmakers dubbing the american health care act. >> the first thing republicans are bringing forward is a piece of legislation that says we repeal it but keeps medicaid expansion and actually expands it. that keeps some of the tax

increases. that is 234not what we promised >> reporter: senate republicans finding fault elsewhere. four gop senators will reject any bill that doesn't protect medicaid. the president promising to put his weight behind the replacement, surprising since he campaigned on a full repeal the president tweeting that one of the bill's most vocal conservative opponents, senator rand paul. saying i feel sure rand paul will come along with the new and great health care program. republican leadership is rallying around the bill. house speaker paul ryan confident they'll get the votes. >> we've got a few weeks -- we'll have 218 when this comes to the floor, i guarantee that. >> reporter: the actual number needed is 216 because of a few vacancies. while speaker ryan sounds confident there, many others do

not agree. this bill faces a very steep climb in the house and even a steeper one in the senate. >> got people coming at it two ways, sunlen. some say it goes too far, some say it doesn't go far enough. the other big story this morning, the continuing fallout from president trump's accusation that president obama had trump tower headquarters wiretapped during the campaign. remember, president trump could get the answer to this accusation himself easily, yet he wants an investigation. republican lawmakers say they will oblige. cnn's joe johns live at the white house with more. the big question, joe, is this a distraction play by the president in light of the fact he could answer it himself? >> certainly a big question there, chris. the preliminaries on capitol hill are just about over now. it's pretty clear that members of congress are about to get down to the evidence and the testimony in their big russia investigation, and as part of that, extremely likely members

of congress will also be spending at least some of their time and attention on the president's unsubstantiated wiretapping claim. >> white house press secretary sean spicer making clear the president doesn't plan on back heading his unsubstance eighted plan that former president obama wiretapped his phones during the election. >> will the president withdraw the accusation? >> why would he withdraw it until it's adjudicated? that's what we're asking. >> reporter: still offering no evidence. >> it's not a question of new proof or less proof. the answer is the same. >> reporter: despite denials of wiretapping from former top intelligence officials. >> there was no such wiretap activity -- >> reporter: spicer continuing to insist on an investigation. >> there is a concern about what happened in the 2016 leaks. the house and senate intelligence committees have the staff and the capabilities and the processes in place to look at this in a way that's

objective. that's where it should be done. >> reporter: now the house intelligence committee moving forward with public hearings on russia's interference in last year's election. >> i want to conduct as many of these hearings in open, in the public. as you know that's rare for the intelligence committees to do. >> reporter: the committee's chair, representative devon nunez inviting officials to testify beginning march 20th. the top democrat on the committee, representative adam schiff confirming the alleged wire tapping will be part of the investigation. >> mr. president, we accept. we accept. we will investigate this. >> reporter: despite three top republicans saying they haven't seen any evidence of it. >> as you know, i think a lot of that was maybe a little bit -- the multiple tweets were perhaps a little strung together. >> reporter: nunez even implying that the president's tweets were

maybe questions instead of outright declarations. >> the president is a neophyte to politics, he's been doing this for a little over a year. a lot of things he says you guys sometimes take literally. >> reporter: meanwhile president trump's pick for deputy attorney general refusing to say whether a special prosecutor should investigate russia's election meddling. >> i'm simply not in a position to answer the question because i don't know the information that they know, the folks in the position to make that decision. >> reporter: if confirmed, rod rosenstein would head any probe after jeff sessions recused himself for failing to disclose two meetings he had with the russian ambassador during his confirmation hearing. something senator al franken took issue with. >> it's hard to come to any other conclusion that he just perjured himself. i think he should come before the committee and explain this.

>> reporter: and on another controversial topic, the state of hawaii has now filed suit against the administration's newly revised travel ban. the attorney general there says it was filed with discriminatory intent. yis and alisyn. >> for all that we want to bring in chairman of the house freedom caucus leading the charge against the american health care act, as it's called. north carolina republican representative mark meadows. good morning, congressman. >> good morning, alisyn. great to be with you and chris. >> great to have you. why don't you like the bill as is? >> really, it keeps much of what people have complained when the president campaigned across america about repeal and replacement. the american people heard two things. those that heard the repeal is we would get rid of all the entitlements, get rid of the laws, the mandates, the taxes that go along with it. and then the ones who heard the replacement side of it, alisyn, really were looking at, well, i want to make sure if i have a

pre-existing condition, that that's covered. i don't get kicked off my insurance plan. the president and we agree with him on both of those points that we have to deliver. this bill just doesn't do it. it's just one program that is going to replace a failed program that has a greater potential for failure. >> specifically, what do you think is making it have failure? it does keep those things you just talked about, the entitlements that people like, that voters say they rollie appreciate, the pre-existing conditions, keeping your kids on the plan until they're 26. what specifically don't you like? >> alisyn, i'll give you some specifics. one is that it creates a new entitlement, perhaps the first major entitlement, the largest under a republican president if trz sign donald trump signed this in. we'll different scores, cbo scores, joint tax scores.

the only score that really matters is will it bring down health insurance premiums. this bill doesn't do it. it doesn't really create competition. it allows the government to come in and prop up the insurance companies and it won't drive down costs. that's what we have to do. that's my major objection. if it lowers costs and provides those essential services and a safety net for those who need it, i'm all on board. i can tell usec tear price yesterday and the vice president agreed we need to go ahead and make some modifications to this bill. we put together a committee last night at the house freedom caucus late in the night to actually work on constructive changes. so hopefully we'll see very good amendments, not only in the committees but offered by rank and file members very soon. >> are you trying to repeal it wholesale first? >> yesterday we introduced a clean repeal bill. that was one thing that all of us voted on, in the house and senate.

we sent it to obama's desk. at the same time we agree we have to have a replacement plan voted on in the same time frame, whether it's the same day or the same week, have real replacement and make sure that we get that done, hopefully getting some democrats to come along and help us there. >> what about coverage, congressman? one of the criticisms of the current bill is possibly 10 million people could lose coverage under what the gop presented this week. what about with your plan? will many people lose their coverage? >> with the plan that the freedom caucus has supported, dr. rand paul's. when we look at it, we believe it will actually insure more people. there's two fundamental questions, alisyn. in north carolina and in almost every single state people are losing their coverage. we're down to one. >> larry: provider. they're having to make a choice between their mortgage and their insurance payment, and that's not sustainable.

we have to make sure we do that. any plan that we're going to support must look at making sure that those who are in harm's way have a protection. we're committed to do that. >> speaking of choices. yesterday we had congressman jason chaffetz on our program, and he said, yes, some low income people will have to make some choices about health care. listen to this. >> we're getting rid of the individual mandate. we're getting rid of those things that people said that they don't want. you know what? americans have choices, and they've got to make a choice. maybe rather than getting that new iphone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds, maybe they should invest it in their own health care. they have to make those decisions themselves. >> what do you think congressman? will people have choose between things like their cell phone and their health care? >> they're already making choices for those kind of things. i talked to a number of people having to make choices between do they put food on the table or

pay for their health care. we've got to drive the cost of health care down. i think any gop plan that gets 218 votes will not make them -- force them to make those kind of choices. it will provide a safety net. i know the president wants to do that. we're all in to help him to make sure we get more people covered at less cost. so that's a choice that i don't want any american to make, certainly don't want my family to make. as we look at that health care coverage and certainly health care in general, is something we need to make sure everybody has access to. >> everybody has access to, but you can't guarantee everybody would have coverage? >> we've got 318 million people. the goal is to ensure or allow access to all. there's a federal law right now, if you show up at a hospital, you get coverage, alisyn. it's a false narrative to suggest that we have people who can't go in and get coverage. it's a federal law. so what we're talking about is

really making that health care affordable. i'm committed to do that. >> house speaker paul ryan was quite bullish yesterday. he said, oh, this will get 218 votes. are you as confident? >> i think his quote was when it's brought to the floor it will get 218 votes. there's not 218 votes today. we laddhad a meeting last night. i can tell you i don't know there's 218 votes of consensus around any bill today. but certainly when anything is brought to the floor, he'll do his whip count and make sure he has 218. today is not that day. >> president trump used colorful language. he said it would be a bloodbath in 2018 if this repeal and replace does not happen. >> well, i think he's right it will be a bloodbath if we do not repeal it. i heard from people all across the country. my phone has lit up with text messages and e-mails and phone

calls saying i can't believe this is the best we can do. there will be a blood bath if we do not repeal it. that was the promise we made. >> he said repeal and replace. you're focused on repeal. there has to be replacement, yes? >> i want to be clear alisyn, from day one we have been very clear on repeal and replacement. but looking at them in two separate vehicles. we agree you have to have a replacement plan. i signed on to a replacement plan last year. as we look at that, it's critically important we have a replacement plan. we're going to do that, yet the tactic and strategy, there's not 218 votes for the bill that was rolled out yesterday without major modifications. but we're hearing from the administration that this is a work in progress. ready and willing to amend and make it better for the american people and we're a willing participant in that and looking forward to getting to a yes.

>> congressman mark meadows, thank you for coming on with your perspective. >> thank you. what about the democrats, what are they going to do with there new health care plan? democratic congressman linda sanchez joins us to give us her take next. of 32 brand new ships with advanced technology, so we can make sure oil and gas get where they need to go safely. because safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better.

it's a great bill. i really believe we're going to have tremendous support. >> hasn't happened yet.

there's certainly some challenges to this early phase coming from republicans. they have problems in the house. who knows what happens in the senate? it is a starting point to change the current the affordable health care act. let's get the view of the democrats. we have democratic congresswoman linda sanchez, a member of the house ways and means committee. when you look at the plan, i see what you're complaining about in terms of overall coverage, that's being ducked by the right so far. one thing, a lot of people can't get coverage now with the aca, and with their current plan, young people, middle income people, about $40,000, $50,000, they're going to do better potentially under this new plan. what do you say to those pluses? >> for younger people or middle income people, once you get sick, your out-of-pocket costs are going to be much higher than they are now. those are things like the cow pays that you pay to visit your

doctor. pretty much what you see with this plan is, less people will be covered, at least 10 million people less, possibly more. you're going to say a bigger hit for seniors. that's why aarp has come out against the bill. you're going to see uncompensated care rise again at alarming rates. that's why the american hospital association is opposed to this bill. there are just so many nasty little provisions embedded in the bill that are going to make people pay more, and it's going to give them much less. so overall, it's a prescription for disaster for working families, for working families that are struggling, for seniors, for women. there are no guarantees against gender discrimination. so it's really not a viable replacement plan. i say let's go back to aca and pick some of the provisions that are problematic instead of scrapping the whole thing and replacing it with a far inferior

plan. >> one political question, right now the word is unanimously that you guys aren't working with republicans on this, no matter which faction i talk to. when i ask if they're getting any buy-in from you guy, they say no, the democrats have been told not to work with us at this point. is that a realistic solution? you don't have the numbers, the aca does have its problems. shouldn't you be working to fix some of these things rather than stay back and criticizing? >> it's funny they say we're not working with them. we've never been allowed to be in any of the discussions. we weren't allowed to see the bill until yesterday when they presented it publicly. nobody has ever asked the democrats, anybody in the democratic party to sit down and work on this bill. so it's kind of a false claim that we don't want to work with them. we've never been allowed, we've never had a seat at the table. they control everything and they act as if we're immaterial to proceeding with this. we have amendments.

we're marking it up in my committee today, ways and means. democrats have amendments to try to improve the bill. we are going to try to do what we can, but over all the bill is fundamentally flawed, not even republicans agree on the bill that's been presented. i think it's just a disaster. >> a lot of republicans don't agree because they don't think it goes far enough. they want medicaid expansion out altogether and replace it with what they see as more choice and freedom for states and individuals. one of the things we heard from congressman mark meadows that i want your take on. he was asked about how the poor are going to do here. are they going to have the same level of coverage and the same numbers will be covered as of right now. there's a federal law that says everybody gets coverage, and all you have to do is go to a hospital and you must get care. is that what qualifies as care going to an emergency room in your opinion? >> no. what the affordable care act did was reduced uncompensated care.

by expanding coverage to 20 million people that never had health insurance, they didn't have to wait until they were so sick that they walked into the emergency room and got their care there which, by the way, is the most expensive point of entry in the health care system. instead, what aca did was it increased coverage so people could go for routine office visits and preventive care visits at no cost. this bill doesn't do that. it increases costs, again, on middle class families, working families, working families that are struggling. you know what it does? a huge tax giveaway to some of the wealthiest americans in this country. it makes people pay more for their health care so insurance companies ceos can get a tax break, the wealthiest 400 families in this country can get a tax break, pharmaceutical companies can get a tax break. president trump ran on helping the working class families in

this country. by the way, the republicans presented this bill and were marking it up without getting a score from cbo about what it would cost or how many people would lose coverage. how insane is that to present a bill and already start moving on marking it up before you have the basic fundamental questions of answered of what is it going to cost and how many people would be covered. president trump promised on the campaign trail that coverage would be great, it wouldn't diminish, and it was going to cost less and be better health coverage. quite frankly, it's just not. there's no way they can get around the fact that this bill does not cover as many people as the aca covered, does not provide the quality health care and the consumer protections, they can't make those allegations. that will come out in the markups today. we're going to be going through these bills with a very fine-tooth comb. >> linda sanchez, thank you very much. this is just a starting point.

let's see what your side comes out with, what the other side comes out with and whether or not you're willing to work together to get something for the american people. thanks for being on "new day." >> my pleasure. another campaign promise, president trump's border wall. what do people who live on the border say about that wall? our van jones went there to get "the messy truth," and he joins us next.

to night on cnn "the messy truth," town hall with host and commentator van jones who recently traveled to the arizona-mexico border to talk security and, of course, the wall. >> i wanted to see it for myself and talk to the people who live this reality every day, like the bunnell county sheriff's deputies. if someone is able to go under, over or around the border fence, they walk through this desert and across the highway and disappear into the united states. >> haven't joins us now to give us a preview. great to see you. is that you just going under the

border there? >> close to the border. that wasn't the actual border. i don't want to get droned. there's so many different barriers that people go through, i came away even more confused about what's going on. i found latinos who are living on the border who are for trum and who say, hey i found people who work for law enforcement who say some of the stuff has to make this stuff worse, not better. once you get down on the ground in reality, it's messy. >> that is complicated. that shows how hard it is. does anybody think a wall with solve the problem? >> i don't think that's the answer. people who are down there say, listen, we've got a lot of barriers, a lot of stuff going on. one of the things they talked about, it's the demand for drugs inside the united states that's

actually causing a lot of the conflict. people who will coming here just because they're looking for work often have to blend in and get the protection of and the permission of the drug smugglers. there's a sort of blending in of the people coming here to pick fruit and the people coming here to put drugs on the streets. it's just a big messy reality. >> there's a notion you're going to stop drug supply that way, but the cartels use tunnels as much as they use anything else. that gets you into very discrete issues. overall do people believe that what trump is doing is going to make them safer? >> i don't think -- the people that i met are willing to give him a chance -- i was talking to latinos, some willing to give him a chance. there's a much larger group of people down there who felt like this is going to work out badly for them. what's going to happen, they're not doing anything wrong. frankly, either they have their papers in place or they're actually citizens, but they feel

like all of them are suspect, all are being put in the same bag, almost like the drug smugglers. so i think part of what i'm learning -- i've gone to west virginia and talking to coal miners. i've gone to ohio, pennsylvania, michigan, the border. part of what's going on is i think the people who are living these realities don't feel well represented by either political party. they feel the conversation at the national level gets so polarized so fast that all the nuance gets lost. they wind up paying the cost. they're a political football and nobody is listening to them. they say honestly we don't need a wall, but an ability to better sort of fish from fowl of who is coming across this border. i talked to one law enforcement guy who said there are people dying out here, and i'm finding dead bodies, children. nobody is talking about that. so it is i think a much more

complex country than i think we're willing to admit and acknowledge. also tonight, we have trevor noah on. i want to talk with him about the state of the so-called resistance. while all these things are going on at the grass roots level, at the national level it's either black or white. trevor is neither black nor white. he's mixed race. i want to talk with him about what he's learning. >> let's talk about some of your comments and feelings about president trump. when he gave his address in front of congress and he had the wife, the widow of the navy s.e.a.l. stand up and she had that incredibly emotional moment and all the applause for her. you said at that time, you gave him huge kudos. you said he became president in that moment. given what has happened since and transpired since and the tweets about president obama, do you want to amend your comments? >> no. this is live television. you've got to be real in the

moment. you've got to say it how you feel it in that moment. you can later on say this, that and the other thing, is he acting presidential now, did he act presidential inside that speech? some of his proposals were terrible. in that moment that i can still get -- i'm human. i can still get teary-eyed even in a trump speech. my dad was in the military. if you stand a widow up who lost somebody within the last month and that divided congress -- they didn't even shake his hand, that's how divided that congress was. you see all those people coming together. you say it was cynical, he's n manipulated her, using her. i think we've got to get to the point where somebody does something effective, you can say it. and the next four hours take him apart on policy. some people saw it cynical. as a kid of somebody who served

in the military, i still say it was an extraordinary moment. i haven't seen this country come together for anything since he went down the escalator. we've had terrorism, mass shootings, floods, fires. nobody has come together for anything. that was the only moment i saw people really come together and it moved me. i spoke from my heart. >> you know what the veterans say, they respect that when people stand up but respect even more when things are done for them. the hard battles that widow will face with her family, what kind of benefits, what kind of allowance, what kind of care we get, that we fall short, we stand up and applaud. those same men and women don't deliver for those veterans. >> that's been true on both sides. >> true. >> you and i agree on this. what we do with our veterans is a disgrace, it is a disgrace. people always think about, you know, the wife, the navy s.e.a.l., whatever, you have a lot of women, people of color who are veterans. they can't get jobs, they have

ptsd and nobody cares. everybody uses them for a political token. >> everybody says they can, but what do they do? >> van, thanks for previewing the show. catch cnn's town hall "the messy truth" with special guest trevor noah tonight at 9:00 p.m. president trump's immigration and military spendi spending, what could this mean at the airports, on the high seas next? (avo) did you know two areas of your brain can make it hard to lose weight? contrave is an fda-approved weight-loss medicine that may help adults who are overweight or struggle with obesity lose weight and keep it off. contrave is believed to work on two areas of the brain: your hunger center... (woman) i'm so hungry. (avo) to reduce hunger. and your reward system... (woman) ice cream.

french fries. (avo) to help control cravings. across three long-term studies, contrave patients lost approximately 2-4x more weight than with diet and exercise alone. contrave is not for everyone. one ingredient in contrave may increase suicidal thoughts or actions in some children, teens, and young adults within the first few months. other serious side effects include seizures, increase in blood pressure or heart rate, liver damage, manic episodes, glaucoma and allergic reactions. do not take with opioids. reduce hunger, help control cravings. contrave. the #1 prescribed weight-loss brand. go to contrave.com.

won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, you won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'll get the full value back including depreciation. and if you have more than one liberty mutual policy, you qualify for a multi-policy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.

. so president trump's proposed increase in military spending and crackdown on undocumented immigrants may lead to cuts in other areas. like what? well, a former coast guard official says these cuts could weaken national security. cnn's aviation and government regulation correspondent rene marsh took a look. here is the story. >> reporter: the trump administration could be making major cuts to the united states coast guard and tsa according to two congressional sources. the proposed cuts are intended to offset a major increase in

military spending and help pay for trump's ramped up immigration enforcement. >> immigration officers are finding the gang members, the drug dealers and the criminal aliens and throwing them the hell out of our country. >> reporter: but the coast guard does play a role in enforcing immigration laws. government statistics show in fiscal year 2016 alone, the coast guard intercepted more than 6,300 undocumented migrants. stephen flynn, a retired coast guard commander, says cuts to his former agency will hurt, not help the president's national security and immigration agenda. >> just as a lesson we've learned post 9/11, you can't do this piecemeal. you have to have a comprehensive approach. >> reporter: among the coast guard's duties, securing the waterways near mar-a-lago in florida when president trump visits. the proposal calls for a 14% cut from its $9 billion operational

budget. that includes slashing $43 million from the maritime safety and security teams which board vessels trying to bring illegal drugs into the country. over the past five years coast guard cutters and aircraft have removed thor than 630 metric tons of pure uncut cocaine with a wholesale value of nearly $19 billion from the high seas. drugs have been a focus for president trump. >> and for drugs to pour in at a now unprecedented rate. >> reporter: flynn warned cuts to the coast guard could also affect national security. >> something the president certainly knows, the coast guard is a front line agency for that. >> reporter: tsa, the agency tasked with keeping terrorists and bombs off commercial airplanes could see a $500 million reduction, the agency already plagued by long lines and frustrated travelers in the past because it didn't have the funding it needed.

former tsa official paul schmick. >> that type of significant cut, we have to question how good will security be? this cannot be good on either side. >> reporter: omb saying in part in a statement, the budget blue print will be released in mid march. it would be pre that tour for us to comment. it went on to say the president and his cabinet are working collaboratively as we speak to create a budget that keeps the president's promises. some republicans say cutting the coast guard budget is a terrible idea. california congressman duncan hunter said in a statement, quote, omb needs a reality check truly. a congressional source who spoke to cnn was skeptical such a proposal could even pass congress given the coast guard's important role in security. back to you. >> rene, thank you very much for that story. well, back to our top story, house republicans new health care plan, it's meeting resistance from even within the gop ranks.

can president trump push it through? we get "the bottom line" on that. also a visit to the eye doctor can be as simple as checking your e-mail. can you trust an online exam. cnn's jacqueline howard put one to the northwest this edition of "teaching care of your health." >> reporter: with a few clicks of the mouse, you can take a vision test at home. the results go to an affiliated eye doctor who can provide an eyeglass prescription for a fee. it's not an exam but it's convenient. >> is that enough data for a respectable health care practitioner to deliver a prescription? i would argue no. >> reporter: after taking two tests digitally, i went for an office visit. it produced the same prescription results, but in the office we learned i have an eye condition which can make the vision blurry. the online test didn't pick that

up. my eye health was also checked which is impossible to do online. >> the eye exam is expected to determine if the patient does or doesn't have things like glaucoma, retina problems. >> reporter: online vision testing is not available in all states. the american kmookd me of ophthalmology helps reduce costs but needs to be evaluated over time. they say it may be appropriate only for adults 18 to 39 without severe prescriptions or symptoms of eye disease. thanks to medicine that didn't exist until now. and today can save your life. ♪

♪

at bp's cooper river plant, employees take safety personally - down to each piece of equipment, so they can protect their teammates and the surrounding wetlands, too. because safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better.

all right. so two big questions for "the bottom line," can trump close the deal on health care and what can we expect from these scheduled russia hearings in the house. let's get to cnn political analyst mark preston. question number one, mark, this is the first time we're going to see the president fight with his own as president. what's the plus/minus? >> the plus/minus is, i'm looking to see if he tries to put so much pressure on republicans who aren't backing it, will he go in and support primary challenges to them or at least threaten to do so. off on the side is the 501(c)(4) organization who has said they will go out and in order to get

through his policies, they will go out and even go after republicans as well. >> interesting. congressman mark meadows was just on. he didn't seem to be afraid of president trump going after him. he was optimistic that in the next couple of weeks they will have hammered out some sort of compromise, but he admitted that today they are far from it. listen to what he just said? >> there is not 218 votes today. we had a meeting last night, and i can tell you, i don't know that there's 218 votes of consensus around any bill today, but certainly when anything is brought to the floor, he'll do his whip count and make sure he has 218, but today is not that day. >> really needs 216, right, because of the vacancies? but what do you make of it? >> mark meadows is in a very safe district. he really does stand by his ideology. the fact of the matter is, he also has support on his side. there are a lot of conservative

groups such as the club for growth and others that are backing him as well. to your point, we could see an internal civil war right now with the republican party on this issue. >> you're getting ahead of yourself. doesn't prpt president trump, he'll go over and persuade them. >> a couple of tweets and he'll be fine. like last night with rand paul, my friend rand paul. you remember those two didn't really like each other. >> i do remember, if this were the real work, presidential persuasion begins. >> what meadow said, he said we passed a bill in the house and senate and sent it to obama. why aren't we sending that ball in? i think the republicans realize now that it's not that easy to legislate and get things through. >> he said he wants to keep everybody covered, that's what trump said. this plan isn't even close to that, let alone what you're going to see from meadows and those two caucuses on the side. so what does he have to give? >> well, interchangeable words,

coverage and access. you talk to the mark meadows of the world, they say we want to provide more access to people and people are losing their insurance. i don't know what trump can give in order to get to the finish line, there will be sticks and carrots along the way and there will be progress, make no doubt about that. it's not going to be very easy to get there. >> let's talk about the investigation into any alleged ties with russia or russia meddling in the election. cnn has new reporting that finds in april of 2016 -- almost a year ago -- there was an event at the mayflower hotel in washington, d.c., a small event, president trump jeff sessions and the ambassador, russian ambassador sergey kislyak, whose name we've come to know, were all there. is that an a-ha moment for somebody? >> it's another straw that's going tont camel's back. at some point you've got to wonder when it is going to break. in that event, was there any kind of discussion about

collusion -- >> there's no suggestion that they all had a private discussion. they were in the same room. >> isn't that the problem with all this stuff, there are all suggestions that the democrats have failed to connect to any kind of collusion or anything that warrants the speculation. i'm not saying there aren't questions, but questions don't always lead to the right kinds of answers. how important is it that the democrats show some there there at some point. >> i would say when does the department of justice show there's some there there soon. >> they've leaked out that we haven't seen any collusion between the trump people and the russians. what will be the straw that breaks the camel's back? how much can they show that equates something really wrong as opposed to circumstance. >> it's going to be some meeting, some discussion, some quid pro quo going on between some entintermediatry with the p campaign if that were to happen and the russian official.

if i'm in the trump campaign, this is what i fear, some of the hanger-oners who went out and were a little loose with their affiliation with the trump campaign but yet were telling these russian officials that, in fact, they were very close and somehow that might have got caught on tape and the trump campaign could be dragged into it. >> interesting hypothetical. >> a lot of thifs in there. >> thank you, mark. "the good stuff" next. "is your daughter ok?" that's where i felt relief. it actually helped to know that somebody else cared and wanted make sure that i was okay. that was really great. we're the rivera family, and we will be with usaa for life. usaa. we know what it means to serve. call today to talk about your insurance needs.

start here. at fidelity, we let you know where you stand, so when it comes to your retirement plan, you'll always be absolutely...clear. it's your retirement. know where you stand. you'll always be absolutely...clear. theseare heading back home.y oil thanks to dawn, rescue workers only trust dawn,

because it's tough on grease yet gentle. i am home, i am home, i am home it is time for "the good stuff," a homeless man in oregon protecting a disabled man being attacked by two strangers. take a listen. >> told the guy, you know, he's disabled. is not right. >> you see the mascara on his eye, he got bead up, bradley bergmann. but he stood in front of the disabled man, distracted two attackers, he got punched,

kicked knocked to the ground. eventually the attackers ran away. despite the pain, bergmann says he's glad he stepped off. >> they turned off the people that were in danger at the time and concentrated on me. >> you know what bothered him? he says there were other people who were just watching. even though he wasn't feeling at his best obviously, he got in there and said it was the right thing to do and he hopes he inspires others. >> oh, my gosh. a shiner there, but thank goodness for them. time now for cnn "newsroom" with poppy harlow and john berman. >> good morning. your red inspired me. >> happy to hear that. >> i hope that man inspired john berman, known to stand and watch. >> you inspire me. you complete me, also. thank you very much. let's get started. good morning everyone. i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm john berman. two giant questions this morning on the republican plan to