diversity as strength. appreciate you being here. let's bring in counselor to the president kellyanne conway. thank you. let's pick up on this real quick and we'll move on. you were talking to your kid which is good. still got to be a mom. irish american, italian american, you have both blood in your answer. why pause before answering -- >> i wasn't listening to your interview with congressman king. this president is the president of all americans. he said that in the wee hours of november 11th. i think you wanted me here for a different reason. >> absolutely. it wanted to bring you in on the conversation of america. we had mike kelly on and everybody is talking about the interview right now. the suggestion seemed to be from you that wiretapping include all these different genres of

technological advancements, they should be looked at as well. the problem is the president is a phone call away -- >> hold on. none of that is true. i was answering a question about surveillance techniques generally. i was reflecting what people saw in the news last week, several articles about how we can surveil each other generally. the answer i gave involving the president and the wiretapping in trump tower is very similar. that screaming headline doesn't even reach the quote and the content accurately. >> you may not have meant it. the skconversation you were havg with kelly was about -- >> it was generally. >> he didn't s&p ask you about it generally. you were asked specifically. >> i'm not inspector gadget. i don't believe people are using the microwave to spy on the trump campaign. however, i'm not in the job of having evidence. that's what investigations are for. i have said many, many times throughout the week that the president is pleased that the

house and senate intelligence committees have agreed with him that this should be part of the investigation that already exists about russia and the campaign, an investigation that apparently has gone nowhere so far. every single day on this network and others people are screaming about russia and the campaign and to what avail. where is the evidence -- >> the investigations haven't started yet. >> you're fine with that investigation taking its time. but when it comes to the house and senate intelligence committee listening to president trump and including this as part of the overall investigation, somehow that has to be on a rocket docket. it has to have evidentiary proof on day one, has to have a conclusion before it even starts. >> because they're fundamentally different suggestions. >> hold on. >> wiretapping is something he could answer with a phone call. >> again, the idea that i was talking about broader surveillance in the trump campaign, no, i wasn't. i've said many times, i said yesterday in an interview, at least your network is interested in playing all the clips so that's good. i said yesterday i was the campaign manager, speaking to people in macomb county,

michigan, not moscow. we have dni, former director jim clapper saying no one under my purview would have anything to do with that. he couldn't discount local and state. >> he said there were no fisa warrants. the suggestion was there was a fisa warrant taken out on the president. the president essentially blaming a former president of a felony, calling him a bad or sick person and offering no proof. that is a very different suggestion than what is the extent of contacts and communications between the trump administration and russia. >> i would also say in the same article today, the screaming headline that just is false, is not what i was saying, it also says my husband is in line with the solicitor general job. that job went to somebody else. >> all right. that's wrong. >> where is the screaming headline, retraction? >> i never said it. that would be really bad if i did it. >> you're quoting from an article. now you're selectively quoting.

>> i'm saying i never said that. >> i was talking about surveillance generally. people will fit that the way they want to fit it. >> i've watched it, i've read it and i talked to kelly. he believes you were throwing it out there generally. he was asking you about the investigation specifically. >> then he should correct his headline. i know i'm great click bait. >> the question is why were you doing this? this goes to personal integrity, what kind of message you're putting out. this seems to be a distraction. you've had injected into this, look at what russia's contacts are with the campaign, the wiretapping that is without basis and the person who made the accusation can answer it with a phone call and for some reason hasn't. it doesn't seem right, kellyanne. >> i'm allowed to talk about things in the news without you questioning anybody's personal integrity. there were articles in the paper about how we surveil people

generally. >> you answered to a specific question and it seemed to be an effective way of putting more doubt on a situation. that's what it came across as. >> maybe to you and maybe to other people who don't necessarily want donald trump to be the president. but to other people, they see it as what it was, talking about news articles and talking about surveillance generally. it was not talking about the trump campaign. that's what investigations are for. the committee has agreed with president trump and they will have the investigation and we will comment further after it's done. also, i talk about any number of things, everything in the news. he's repealing and replacing obamacare. there are people who have health insurance card who kay can't use it, can't afford deductibles and premiums. let's talk about real things, not fantasy things, let's talk about the jobs he's created. >> we talk about all these things. >> sometimes. >> you said by people who don't want people to be president. that is not just fair. my questioning of you,

questioning of his baseless claim about wiretapping is not about not wanting the president to be president. >> maybe not you. >> that's unfair and it's hurtful because you are feeding people's animosity. why even put out out there. >> feeding people's animosity. look over my shoulder i have 24/7 secret service protection because of feeding people's animosity. don't claim that privilege. >> do you think i'm asking questions to you because i don't want president trump to be president. >> no. >> then why put the suggestion out there. >> i'm saying there are many people who don't, who have screaming headlines who are constantly on our backs, they won't give him full and fair coverage. i would like full coverage. i would like people to cover everything he's doing. you can ask the tough questions. people can attack it. he's had 33 or 34 executive actions. everybody wants to cover one or two or them. you know what the jobs report, 235,000. >> the jobs report that he used to say was phony. >> can't even pause to say, wow,

in his first full month in office, 235,000 jobs including in manufacturing, construction -- >> almost as many jobs last february. four out of the last five februarys -- >> why flick your wrist at that if you're one of the guys in construction, it's a meaningful number. >> i'm saying the numbers were good, beat expectation, not the number he put out the day before that wasn't the official number. the point is, this is a man who is now president of the united states who has bad-mouthed the job numbers as phony every time they come out, misstating what the non-participation rate is, fundamentally misstating. now he says they're not phony anymore. you don't think that's worthy of criticism. >> i think it's worthy to note there are 235,000 net jobs in his first full month in august. i think it's very notable that 20 million people have said no to obamacare, 6.5 million agreed to pay the penalty because they can't afford the premiums and

the deductibles chris. you have other people claiming a hardship exception. you can't have these people who are not being treated fairly under our current health care system left in the cold. >> 20 million more covered than you had before. none of you will answer whether or not people will lose coverage. >> i have answered that many times. >> are people going to use coverage? >> the president says everybody will have coverage, have a smooth transition. he looked at his democratic colleagues and asked them to come aboard, too. what are their ideas? you have democratic members on cnn all day long, i haven't heard one good idea. >> they say when the cbo scores your plan you'll see as many as 10 million people lose coverage because you're cutting medicaid -- >> no. people will get tax credits and will be able to have more competition. >> less money than they're getting now with the subsidies. >> you're reading -- >> i read like nothing else. i've got to correct the

misstatement. >> you're saying, quote, cutting medicaid. i'm not going to let that stand. the fact is if you're on medicaid now and that's how you get your health insurance, that's how you'll get it in the future. if you're one of 175 million americans like you and me who get your health insurance through your employer, you will continue to do that. it's the farmers and plumbers and small business owners in between who can't access health coverage because it's unaffordable and inaccessible. >> if you cut the funding for medicaid, they'll have to replace the money themselves. they'll say they don't have it in most cases and take people off the roll. the cbo will come out with a score as early as today that says exactly that. >> it doesn't bother you that 20 million people said no to obamacare and would rather pay the penalty. >> take it one at a time. the medicaid is separate from the people who don't like the mandate. >> this is about health care

reform. you can use a card that's not fake. you can get you and your children care if you need it. that's what the president wants to do. >> you can use the card if you have money to pay for your care. >> deductibles and premiums? people can't afford that. >> you campaigned so hard on repealing and replacing that now you're doing it even if it doesn't make the most sense. tom cotton coming out, all these republicans coming out saying they don't like the plan. >> tom cotton said it needs major carpentry and it could pass. the president and vice president have met with 35 whips in the house this past week. the vice president went to a lunch for senate republicans and stalked to them about health care. the president had senator cruz in for dinner, working the phones, listening, negotiating, deal making. he said, if you have improvements to the bill, we'd like to hear them. he is receiving all these input. he's also challenged, slashed,

invited the democrats to come along. we know firsthand as republicans what it's like to have a bill that's jammed through on a partisan vote. >> debated this for almost a year when it was obamacare. now you want to get it done in like two weeks. >> no. we want to make sure that people who have care continue to have care. but also these -- being able to buy your insurance across state lines the way you do with auto insurance and life insurance makes sense to people. >> it's also highly misleading. you price insurance, car insurance, on where you drive, not where the company is. that is a red herring. >> it's not a red herring. health care is much more important than driving. we want people to have more choice and competition. as i sat with you right here, in 1,021 counties only have one insurer. >> because in states like arizona they did not put the law into effect the way they could

have. they wound up hamstringing themselves, okay? that popped premiums. there are other reasons that premiums popped that need to be addressed. >> the biggest reason of all is the disaster of obamacare and you know it. >> that's just a slogan. you have 20 mill i don't know more covered now, a rate of increase of cost for health care that is less than before obamacare. >> you told millions of americans that don't have health care that they're a slogan. >> no, i didn't. >> he wants to help them. >> i did not just tell anybody they are just a slogan. that's what gets you in trouble. i am not someone who doesn't want president trump to be president so i'm asking tough questions. i'm not someone. >> you think it's a good idea o that one-third of our nation's counties only have one choice in health care? >> no, but you have to look at why. >> aetna called it a death spiral. humana left the exchange and

said it's not a winning proposition. they literally can't afford it. that doesn't work. when people admit that something is not working and they want to fix it the way this non-politician businessman in the white house is willing to do -- >> you ask those same people what's going to happen when you reduce the subsidies to medicaid and the amount of money that goes in. doctors won't take it now. that's going to be even more true for the most vulnerable, the trump voters, the people in west virginia you like to talk about all the time. >> that's not true. >> what are you talking about? they need the medicaid expansion, need the exchanges. they don't have money to put in an hsa. >> people on medicaid will continue to get their health care through medicaid. >> but will they get the same coverage of care? when the amount of money goes down, so will what the insurance company for you. >> the fact is the quality has decreased for many americans, the access has been reduced, the premiums have skyrocketed. it's not a stable or affordable system as it is for many

americans. it works for some and they should continue as they are. >> the question is are you going to make it better for them or worse for others? that's the question. >> make it better for everyone. >> we'll see when the cbo scores it. >> you and your wife want to go and get the plan that works for you and your family. >> i get it through my employer, only 4% of the population affected by a lot of these changes. i'm not a point of comparison, thank god for it. i don't think you should play around with the realities either. if there's not as much money in the system, it will hurt people who don't have money. >> you're presuming there's not as much money in the system. there will be cost savings and with more choice and competition prices come down and quality goes up. >> we'll with the cbo. this hasn't been scored. >> correct. >> for all the due political criticism for the way the aca got put through. people deny that, you're right, they're playing politics. they had it scored all along the way. some of it was right, some of it was not. >> there was were huge

miscalculations. >> everyone says the same thing, i don't know, i don't know, i don't know what it's going o to cost. i don't know how many people are going to be off. that's the way you want to get it through congress. >> what i want you to focus on is how many people don't have coverage and access now, how many people are willing to pay the penalty and taxes. the three phases of repeal and replace mean in phase one, those penalties and mandates are gone. that's a good thing. >> how do you keep up the healthy pool? that's what's going to control costs. >> you have health savings account. people who don't have employer or medicaid sponsor health insurance can have a health savings account. >> what do they put in it? >> the money they receive. >> the tax credits? that's not cash in hand. what if you don't have the rest of the money. >> they say i don't want a plan that has maternity benefits because i'm past child bearing years. >> on its face i don't understand how it got in there,

the cbo, their score will be important for many people. do you trust the cbo. >> the cbo is a very important component of this. we're awaiting their scoring, respect the process. we know in the past -- >> do you trust them as a fair arbiter? >> the president is working very well with all his agencies including the cbo. we're waiting for the score. >> i'll talk health care all day because it matters so much to people. >> it does matter very much. >> the wiretapping thing is a fundamentally different charge. he could answer it himself. he could declassify what he finds out himself immediately. nobody has more power than the president yet he hasn't made a call to jim comey. why? >> i'm not going to discuss who he calls and who he doesn't call. >> sean spicer did, said he didn't reach out to them. >> listen to me. i'm not going to do it. >> sean spicer did. we know he didn't reach out. why not? >> director comey can also make a statement. he directed the doj -- >> why would he make a statement

about something that isn't snapping. >> i saw congressman schiff say on a different network that he will ask director comey the question when he appears before him. >> it's taking time and resources to investigate something he can answer. >> the president is comfortable waiting. >> of course he is because it's distracting from looking at the russia connections. >> okay. >> that's my point, kellyanne. why would i ask you a question about why my kid went to bed last night? i could make a phone call and tell you what time. >> that's a glib analogy. >> he can pick up the phone and get this answer. >> you realize what the crux of all this is, right? i hope you as an american are very concerned, as we all are, about the leaks coming from the intelligence and security community somewhere. we have leaks of the president's readout of a conversation he's having with a head of state. that can't be. we know general flynn was wiretapped. we know -- >> general flynn was not wiretapp wiretapped. >> i'm sorry, that people leaked

the conversation. whether he was wiretapped -- >> he was not wiretapped. what i'm saying is we know that conversation he had was leaked somehow. so somebody is giving information that they should not be. >> leaks are a problem. that's not what the president asked for. he said i was wiretapped by president obama, accusing a former president of a felony, and he called him bad or sick. he has no proof to support calling president obama, a man who he says he likes, bad or sick. what about that? >> what about the rest of the obama administration. >> what about calling him bad or sick? was that right for the president to say? >> chris, i'll let the president speak for himself. he's perfectly capable of that. he's the president of the united states. do you think he's covered -- >> does that make it right? >> i want to ask you a question. the level of disrespect for the president of the united states and the way he is described by people, people whose approval rating is half of his frankly, is beyond the pale.

>> his polls have gone the wrong way since he said the wiretapping, lowest level since the wiretapping stuff. >> i wrote an article 15 or 18 years ago, when people think you're making a difference in their lives. he will be judged by his accomplishments. he's being judged by people saying he's making good on his promises to get things done. people like the job numbers, people like the unemployment numbers, people like the consumer confidence. they like the fact that people feel good about the direction of the economy. they heard him in his joint address two weeks ago. that doesn't wash away because people aren't covering it. that was his natural connection. >> you know why it washes away? on the heels of that is the attack of jeff sessions. >> he looked me in the eye for 64 minutes, at his press conference a couple weeks earlier for 77 minutes, he gave

the rally in melbourne. he'll be in nashville this week, donald trump, a brilliant communicator and natural connector, cuts through the noise or cuts through the silence, he is at his best. i want to see him do more of that. >> i think he should take your advice as always, and i think he should do it by picking up the phone, calling and getting the answer to the wiretapping allegations, have a press briefing saying here is what i learned. >> i think he should be respected as the president of the united states. >> i think those