rate. what will that do to the deficit. day 96. good morning, joe. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. another lesson how the spending bill becomes law. taking the border wall off the table was starting to look like the only priority in the white house congressional republicans given the fact they had made keeping the government open, avoiding a government shutdown a priority. president trump signaling a willingness to drop his demand for congress to include a down payment for his border wall in this week's must pass spending bill. >> we feel very confident the government is not going to shut down. >> the president saying he's open to delaying wall funding until after budget negotiations hours after touting the importance of a wall on twitter. senate minority leader chum schumer calling it good for the country as skeptical republicans

welcome the shift. >> i'm for a wall that makes sense. a 200 mile wall doesn't make a lot of sense. >> the administration continuing to insist that ultimately mexico will foot the bill for the wall. >> why has there been a discussion about shutting down the government over paying for the wall. isn't mexico supposed to pay for the wall. >> i think, jim, the president made clear initially we need toting the funding going. there will be several mechanisms to make sure that happens. >> the president is trying to deliver on one of his key campaign promises, proposing to slash corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%. he will unveil details of the tax cut plan tomorrow setting up a potential clash with republicans concerned about the impact these cuts will have on increasing the deficit. >> the tax plan will pay for itself with economic growth. >> the administration arguing the sweeping cuts, which go beyond a plan put forth by house speaker ryan will pay for themselves, a theory economists

don't buy. meanwhile the trump administration hitting five companies with stiff tariffs of up to 24% on lumber shipped into the u.s. congress secretary wilbur ross saying it's been a bad week for u.s./canada trade relations stoking fears about a trade war with america's second largest trading partner. as domestic policy continues to dominate the agenda, the white house is keeping a watchful eye on north korea, among other things a big artillery drill was held in north korea overnight. saying essentially they are not so sure kim jong-un is. a missile armed -- a submarine armed with missiles now headed to south korea. the united states senate is expected to gather here at the white house tomorrow for an unprecedented briefing on north

korea. chris and alisyn, back to you. >> the threat ramped up with the submarine, but the threat alleviated on this looming shutdown crisis. cnn political analyst david gregory, cnn political analyst and ap associate editor and columnist for real clear politics. david gregory, taking the wall off the table, big move? of yeah, big move. i also think this whole gambit about the wall should not be taken very seriously. unfortunately president trump says a lot of things that should not be taken seriously, taken more of an opening bid in a negotiation. i think the wall is that. to put a focus on security at the border, on the drug flow, the people flow that trump talks about, even though those flows have been down with regard to illegal immigrants across the border. i think in this case widely pulled back from a negotiation where they didn't have a lot of leverage.

they don't want a shutdown. congressional leaders didn't want it. i thought this was a very interesting move. clearly republicans said to the white house, don't go here. we do not want to own a government shutdown. trust me. we've been there. not good for business. >> is this really just semantics where democrats are willing to give some money if you call it border security, not if you call it border wall. the trump add manage is going to get the money or some form they want but we just have to call it something different? >> no, i think it's very different. i think it's a big retreat. all the talking points now from republicans are the president is going to end up with good border security. reince priebus on sunday shows, yeah, i think we're going to do well on board are security. border security isn't permanent. couple of drones, this and that. if you commit to a wall, $22

billion. republicans were never for the wall. forget what the democrats said, they wouldn't be for any funding bill that had the wall, republicans weren't. so the trump administration -- what upsets the apple cart over in the congress among republican leaders, a week ago the president said we have to have the health care vote. i'm going to monkey with this funding bill and push a shutdown possibility over border wall and he retreated. they never know when the rhetorical bombs are going to com. >> mark preston, a.b. makes a good point. i haven't heard any democrat they put a dollar towards a wall. we had pete sessions on, conservative, said he thought the wall was an analogy. now that it was a reality, it wasn't going to do that way. is this a teachable mom? look how it works. find make or break, strike a

deal, is that what's going on here? >> it's unfortunate you have to use those words. the fact is you have the president learning on the job. he's surrounded himself with capable people but they aren't strong enough to force his hand or keep his mouth from basically writing checks he can't cash and the wall is exactly one of them, health care is another one. when we talk about his first 100 days and the failures that he's had, they are all self-inflicted. all strategic fail umplts he didn't go about the first 100 days of getting things done, working well with congress. you can say, well, he did this on regulations -- environmental regulations, business regulations, what have you, he did that by executive order. he didn't do that by working with congress. i think a.b. is exactly right. congressional republicans fear trump more than democrats. haven't heard a whole lot from democrats because they don't have to do anything because they can't get anything through congress. congressional republicans don't know what's coming their way each day if not each hour.

>> how much of it is they don't know because the president is underserved by the people around him, literally and figuratively. whoever gave him the advice to go strong, there's going to be a health care vote this week did him a disservice, set him up for failure look. at key positions. tracking key positions trump has filled, 22 confirmed of 556 key positions. he doesn't have anybody around him doing the job. >> well, i'll make this quick. we all thought ivanka trump, his daughter, would play the role of somebody who would be able to force trump's hand. i think it still comes from the top down. if he's such a successful businessman, knows the ways of the world, i think it lands on his door. >> laysons, people working programs, in the agency. >> you've got to have people trump himself fears or trusts to a level they will follow his suit. right now i don't think he necessarily has it. >> okay. so do i hear you all saying you

don't think the wall will ever happen. this means we're at a turning point here and the wall is no longer a sort of real goal for the white house. is that what -- >> i think it might be an analo analogy. >> an analogy, metaphor. >> they say pushing it april to september. that fight will be just as difficult in september. they don't get savings from health care if they don't pass it, tax cuts, how far do you go on deficit, deficit buster. it's a real fight with fiscal conservatives and they don't want the wall. >> what do you make of it? >> fold that in some appoint. >> the big news for people this morning, the tax rate for businesses is going to be lowered if it's up to trump. >> that's an example, that's a real priority that will be backed up by not only what mark was saying, a team around him that's going to advance this, although the hasty way in which they are doing it is problematic but you've also got the will of congress that wants to act on tax cuts.

it's something idealogically in the conservative movement that people are going to rally around. i think the idea of doing so without any concern about the fact that it will bust the deficit will further cause fractures in the republican party. this is the kind of thing the markets expect, tied to economic growth. although, i think the argument from the treasury secretary that it's going to pay for itself through economic growth. how many times have we heard this? how is that a serious gambit in the opening debate. it's not that it's baseless, not that economic growth tied to tax cuts is without merit but the idea you can rely on that as an offset to the loss of revenue i don't think is realistic. i think the issue with the wall, this is a matter of political capital. you can't do everything. have you to choose how much political capital you spend in any one area. the president thinks he can get out there and do all these things and he's learning on the job you can't. >> let's crunch the numbers and look at what they are

suggesting. what president trump wants is to drop the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%. what the tax policy center who has crunched the number says that that would be a loss of $2.4 trillion, which means it would up the deficit. so a.b., how are republicans and democrat going to feel about this proposal? >> remember trump was going to balance in eight years then started backing off. he made clear to his advisers but it's out in reports that he doesn't really care about the deficit, revenue neutral. we've got to have a big tax cut to spur growth, going to have this ambitious 3% goal. treasury secretary mnuchin said it will all get paid for down the road. this, as i said, if they don't find savings from health care, if they end up in a big argument among themselves republicans over tax reform that really actually pelosi through the

deficit eastbound more is going to be one more republican on republican violence debate. he just doesn't see that coming. the tax announcement from trump itself last week was a way to get his aides going. his advisers were surprised by it. republican leadership was priced by it. principles we'll see on wednesday are going to be broad out lines but not a lot of details because they are not ready. they don't have a baseline. this funding fight this week. so sometimes trump does this in his exuberance but doesn't really mean 15% is going to materialize. >> the base. tax cuts, yay, tax cut for businesses. is that as big a yay or do we have to sell them on this if we cut taxes all boats will rise with the tide. >> i think by saying you're going to cut taxes, i think the base gets happy. however, it's never going to happen because there is going to be this republican on republican violence. not to get into the weeds and i won't go deep in the swamp but

it comes back to strategy. the idea he's going to try to do this. it's not that easy. have you to follow certain steps to do it. quite frankly he's failed to do so and republicans on capitol hill while they like the idea of tax cuts, they are afraid of trump's approach to it right now. >> all right, panel, thank you very much. stick around. we have many more questions including if you talk about this story, there's another potential conflict for the trump administration. state department post, blog post promoting president trump's mar-a-lago resort. is that illegal? we dig into ethical concerns next. ens. your testimony will save lives. mr. stevens? this is your new name. this is your new house. and a perfectly inconspicuous suv. you must become invisible. [hero] i'll take my chances.

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we're the williams family, and we're usaa members for life. so the state department just took down a blog post that touted fabulousness of trump's mar-a-lago resort. that raised the eyebrows of ethics watch dogs. let's bring back our panel, david gregory, a.b. stoddard and mark preston. a.b., how is this okay? >> there's nothing okay about this. republicans on capitol hill should be ashamed of themselves. long before this blog post. because the president never separated himself from his businesses. he's profiting off the presidency. >> mar-a-lago initiation rate has gone to $100,000.

>> has doubled. they know they have access. two former presidents from colombia. lots can happen there. forget it's not a secure environment, adequately secured. but he is at a trump branded property every single weekend. it is flagrant. it's not even subtle. his daughter got three chinese trademarks. trump himself after acknowledging the one china policy got three chinese trademarks. this is not even subtle. they are profiting off the presiden presidency. and the worst part about it, the republicans have done nothing. >> not just cloak and daggers. put up the calendar for trump branded policies by trump. see the circles, that's where he goes. we usually talk about the security money, but the conflict is apparent. mark preston, you have the best skeptical face, i think, in the business. the idea the white house didn't know about the mar-a-lago

blogging on the state department site, what's the face we get on that one? >> how about this, let's assume they didn't know. what they have created is this is a culture acceptable because in many ways worse because it has permeated throughout the administration, all 12 people who work in the administration in some way, shape, or form. that is the issue. i'm not sure donald trump knew about this, but the fact you have lower level aides thinking this is acceptable and putting it out there is absolutely astonishing and ridiculous. >> david gregory. >> there's not much more to add. you have a president who said when he was elected that the brand didn't matter, he didn't care about his business. that's clearly not true. his children are actively involved in it. you have ivanka trump in this opaque role in the white house still doing her business. yes, any president is entitled to go to another residence. but when it's a residence that's

also a club that's making money off of his station in life, it's just totally inappropriate. like a.b. said, this is -- it's not just about the republicans but the public, those who support the president. how do they feel about the presidency. this is about the presidency and that has to be factored in all along. at some point president trump has to figure out the presidency is bigger than him, will outlast him. has he to be faithful to it. things like this undermine it. >> the senate investigation, this is where a lot of people's hopes have been pinned finding anything about russia because the house side is a mess. but it does seem to be slow. they get the information out there they have a handful of staffers, the staffers aren't attorneys, they aren't investigative experts. if those are the people doing the work, is it legitimate criticism that the staffing is not going to get it done? >> something definitely hit a

wall because senator wariner, the co-chair, ranking chairman on the committee with senator burr who runs it was very efussive about the bipartisan cooperation they were enjoying, the work they were doing together, his respect for the chairman's conduct and how nonpartisan it was just a few weeks ago. something definitely -- we've hit a bump in the road where they are concerned resources are not applied toward not only time but as you said people who are qualified to actually run this investigation. so i think this coordinated on the record comments from senator feinstein, weidman, warner are likely to sound some alarms. they have hired two new staffers. it probably will jump-start it. it was sort of a rare thing for four members of the committee to come out and criticizes it publicly. obviously the way they were talking a few weeks ago has sharply changed and they feel a

true investigation is not on track. >> let's listen to what the senator had to say about the pace of this. >> i've made clear to the bipartisan leadership of the committee that i have serious concerns about the pace of the investigation. i believe you have to speed it up right now. american people are getting most of their information from leaks and false tweets. the issues i focused on, follow the money, following the trail of the dead bodies, it's important to use all tools particularly public hearings and subpoenas. >> when a senator turns to the camera and gives a soliloquy, you know there's a problem. he inserted there the highly attention grabbing dead bodies, which is not something we talk about often in the investigation, but that there was -- there were these, i guess, russian operatives, many of whom coincidentally died at

around the same time. >> yeah. i guess i'm not as surprised by ron wyden saying that because he tends to be the most liberal of all who actually said something yesterday, but it has lit a fire, so to speak, under the republican majority right now in the senate. i do think they are going to be able to pull it together. i guess when you do have mark warner and dianne feinstein also voicing concern, that is a problem, they tend to work in a bipartisan mayber. we shouldn't equate to what the house is because it's an absolute disaster. >> david gregory, we know every time we take a pole, three out of four americans say there should be an independent investigation. is there any chance of that for ironically the same reason we're discussing why these investigations going, a partisan move, republicans behind independent counsel so probably doesn't happen. >> i don't see it happening.

no way. the senate is the best hope because they were proceeding on this in a pretty serious way. but you know, chris, you identified it initially. this is really the fbi that's the tip of the spear here. the fbi has been compromised by jim comey how politically it acted with regard to this investigation and the clinton investigation. so the head of the fbi got so twisted up in knots about what he should disclose to congress and the public, there are questions about where he will come down, where the fbi and ultimately the justice department will come down. that's the issue that we face here. >> guys, thank you very much for all of the information. another headline for you this morning, the trump administration sending a message to north korea docking a nuclear powered zubov tsuzubosub off so. is it going further? we have a live report next. it's being in motion.

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north korea carrying out a large scale artillery drill as part of a military celebration. this comes as the u.s. moves a nuclear submarine into south korean waters.

cnn's will ripley live in pyongyang north korea, the only western journalist there right now. his 12th trip to north korea. what is the state of play on the ground there, will? >> reporter: it's interesting, chris, we were taken today to colorful celebrations. as we were out there we were getting reports of massive long range artillery exercise happening on the north korean coast possibly overseen by kim jong-un, supreme leader of increase. that will be confirmed as they release images in the coming hours. testing of long range artillery is frightening, particularly frightening for south korea. pointed at seoul, home to tens of millions of people. weapons in the immediate future could be more damaging and kill more people than nuclear weapons still being developed. this as the country is prepared

to conduct its sixth nuclear test really at any time kim jong-un could push the button on that according to analysts. it hasn't happened yet. it didn't happen today on this major holiday. we'll have to watch and see what happens. of course adding to the complicated situation an american citizen tony kim detained in pyongyang over the weekend as he was about to board a flight out of the country of he's a professor teaching at a local university that accepts foreign professors. we don't know what charges he's facing. we don't know where he's being held right now. he joins two other citizens serving hard labor. university of virginia warmbier and kim don chul. the nuclear submarine that arrived today, chris. >> what is the reaction in north korea to the sub being moved

into south korean waters. >> i was speaking with a north korean soldier today who said they are not intimidated by the submarine, "uss carl vinson" carrier strike group. they believe north korea is in possession of weapons that can sink that carrier. that was a warning north korea put out earlier this week prompting a fiery response to the pentagon warning them to stop provoking u.s. >> vice president of woodrow wilson center, aaron, good to see you, sir. let me ask you for historical perspective on current premise, which is got to be tough with those guys. when you're tough with north korea the way trump is being right now, that's your best chance getting them to stand down. you use that muscle in your relationships with china and japan and get them to help triangulate around the nasty north. do you agree? >> you know, based on my experience in negotiations, not

only is timing critical, vinegar is important but also is honey. the truth is there's no in state here. we have two unpalatable options. if we won't bomb, and i suspect we won't, and we won't negotiate, then you're left with drift. you're left with literally a version of the obama policy, which was strategic patience. now you have at times it seems to me a sort of nonstrategic impatiei impatientence. they have to have conclusion to test the possibility in effect you can freeze at least testing exportive munitions and production of fissile material, at least get the freeze what we fear, ballistic missile that will eventually reach the united states. >> two questions in one.

one, does this tough talk help the chances of negotiation anymore? what do you make of the people from the kellyanne era and senator markey saying you've got to get them a seat at the table. that's how we got it done in the clinton era. do they have a right to see success in what they see in the clinton era and this muscular talk can help promote? >> having failed, i still believe some of my experiences if i learn from them are important going forward. so look, you need incentives and you need disincentives. strategic patience didn't work because north koreans continued to produce fissile material. they now have 1,000 ballistic materials. by 2020 they will have half of britain's arsenal. pressure alone will not do this. this man believes nukes are essential for his relevance and for his security. he's simply not going to give them up. so what do you do? that's the core issue.

signaling, being tough is fine. flexing muscles, fine. new president nearing the end of 100 days. but ultimately you're going to have to figure out a way to talk. >> will ripley. when you're there on the ground, they are showing you around, obviously they are trying to communicate messages to you, too, about where they are, does there seem to be any indication of risk assessment on the north korean part? you know what i'm saying? do they portray to you a sense of we hope this won't happen? >> there is never a dissenting voice spoken publicly and certainly not to me, a foreign publicist in pyongyang. many call it unity, others call authoritarian regime where political accidedissent is not allowed. everybody says they are behind the leader kim jong-un. i ask if they are fearful they

are taken down a dangerous path, they reapply, absolutely not. even the soldier i spoke with today. they also believe they have an arsenal that can hold up to the firepower of u.s. you add on top of that a standing army of a million people and reserves and paramilitary an additional 6 million people. north koreans publicly have a lot of confidence in the situation. you don't folly too much tension when you're walking around the streets. >> quickly, has anything ever worked with north korea? >> a freeze, temporary restrictions and constraints on nuclear program at best, chris. and again, last point, i mean, the world for president trump is filled with migraine headaches and root canals. he does not have solutions. there are no solutions to these problems. there are outcomes. in this case, the best outcome you're going to get is some sort of freeze which imposes constraints and restraints on north korea's nuclear program.

don't make perfect the enemy. >> not to complete the metaphor but there's not enough laughing gas in the world to make this situation look less bleak. thank you very much. will ripley, be safe. thank you for the reporting as always. alisyn. >> well played. i like the dental analogy. >> i don't use it. i enjoy the pain. >> i recommend it for you. it can only help. up next a cnn exclusive, a rare look inside war ravaged raqqa. so what these new satellite images tell us about what is going on inside the last isis stronghold in syria. jack be nimble, jack be quick, jack knocked over a candlestick onto the shag carpeting... ...and his pants ignited into flames, causing him to stop, drop and roll. luckily jack recently had geico help him with renters insurance. because all his belongings went up in flames. jack got full replacement and now has new pants he ordered from banana republic. visit geico.com

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images of isis' self-declared capital as coalition forces surround the area and ready to go in for a fierce battle. live in iraq with the exclusive images. >> reporter: alisyn, so tight is isis grip of terror on the city

we've only been able to see what life is like through the lens of their propaganda footage. these satellite images obtained by us show stunning detail what life is like in there as that noose from coalition forces around the city begins to tighten. here is what we saw. the final target in the war on isis, their capital, raqqa. so wretchedly isolated, held hostage in terror, the closest we get to a different space and exclusive satellite pictures taken for cnn. here, two checkpoints in the street. nearby an isis flag. precision strikes cutting its people further off from the world. >> translator: life is not life. life is death. we are besieged. we can't leave or walk around. anyone who breaths this slaughter. >> reporter: a day early describes safety to the north a

claustrophobic world of living with isis, in streets covered by massive -- this central market to hide isis fighters from drone cameras overhead. another escapee describes how isis fighters differ. >> the foreigners treat presidents very well but the syrian isis members, they are very aggressive with people. >> reporter: isis used their own drone to film damage from coalition strikes prior to the slow net slipping over the city. images of life inside raqqa are rare, by one occasion filming the panic of residents trying to flee. seconds of horror here as isis just told them the dam to the west might break open flooding raqqa. it never happened. like so much of their propaganda, the dam was fine. but to the west fierce fighting backed by u.s. special forces

has drawn the noose yet tighter. these coalition fighters to the west and east are about to move in from the south. then the noose will be complete. the countdown begins to when these distant streets are open for the world to see again. >> analysts pointed out the city as a whole, quite vibrant signs of life amongst the population there. it looks as though when the coalition strikes buildings, it's pretty precise. they don't bring the whole building down, just take out certain things they want around it. you saw the bridge, in fact, the end of the bridge that was severed, apparently that's rebuilding happening as quickly as possible if liberated. the clock really ticking on that, chris, the coalition putting a lot of assets in the area around it, using syrian rebels to build up a force that maybe moves in in the weeks or months ahead. they still have to move in from

the south and encircle the city next. >> important reporting and a story well told. nick paton walsh, thank you very much. former president barack obama in his first public appearance since leaving the white house. you know the big question, what did he say about trump? did he say anything? the answer next. 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.

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marcel williams and jack jones if the first double execution in seven years. both men found guilty of murder in the mid 1990s. they are among eight inmates governor asa hutchinson fast tracked in april because the supply of lethal injection drugs expires at the end of the month. >> former president barack obama making his first public appearance since leaving office revealing what he wants to do next during a chicago forum. >> the single most important thing i can do is to help in any way i can prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton. >> as long as it doesn't include discussing the current president during his time on stage, mr. obama never once mentioned his successor, president trump. >> so there is a round of severe storms packing damaging winds and rain and hail. it is ready to pound the central u.s. cnn meteorologist chad myers has our forecast. how is it looking?

>> even the potential for tornadoes, too, alisyn. it looks very stormy for wednesday and thursday across the central plains. this weather brought to you by purina, your pet, our passion. we even have flash flood warnings this morning right now over raleigh, north carolina. so be careful out there today. it is going to be a severe weather today across the east and then for tomorrow across the midwest. here is how it looks for tomorrow. the main threat is hail. by the time we work our way into wednesday, we will actually see the potential for tornadoes. it's spring. we expect it. this is exactly what should happen this time of year when we have warm air on one side, cold air on the other side. even potential for very heavy rain today and tomorrow. watch out if you're driving on the roadways, there will be ponding all through north carolina all the way up even into boston. chris, back to you. >> thank you very much. health care reform is back on the trump administration's front burner. the president was out there saying there will ab vote this week. that's not going to happen.

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let's talk health care. where are republicans today on their plan to repeal and replace obamacare? the man with the answer is joining us now, republican michael burgess of texas. he's chairman of the energy committee and he serves on the subcommittee helping to craft new gop proposal. good morning, congressman. >> good morning. technically i'm chairman of the subcommittee on health on energy and commerce committee. >> thank you for that correction. i'll fire someone later for writing that. >> that's all right. >> meanwhile, congressman, give usa status report. we have heard from reince priebus the chief of staff, as well as president trump him self they were anticipating a vote this week on whatever the new and improved gop plan is to repeal and replace obamacare. where are you with it?

>> of course, the plan is as it passed out of our subcommittee actually now a month ago. in the name was the american health care act. that is still the proposition that's before congress. now during the two weeks we weren't in washington, our subcommittee provided technical assistance to anyone who thought they might have an idea that they wanted to get drafted in terms of an amendment, but this will not be an entirely different piece of legislation. it will be building on the bill as it left committee, again, three or four weeks ago. >> okay. but are you really going to have a vote this week? >> well, the first evidence of that would be an amendment coming to the rules committee. the first evidence of that would be an amendment that was made public. so -- >> so no. >> well, you could technically, but i would expect if something is going to happen, i would expect it to be next week not this week. but i've been wrong on that projection before. i'll say this, i think there's

broad recognition, broad recognition we need to get something done and the time for arguing with ourselves is drawing to a close. we are going to have to put a bill on the floor and take a vote. >> yeah. before i get to the substance of that, i just am curious about the time line. do you think this is a realistic time line that you would have something to vote on this week. >> the realistic time line was doing something in february. so i would -- it is time. look, health care part of the trump agenda is important, and it is the key that gets us through the door to the other stuff. the key to the trump presidency i always felt is jobs and economy, tax reform is a big piece of that. health care they say comes first. okay. let's get our work done. let's move on then to helping the economy. because let's face it, if there's not a significant growth in the economy, then all of this other discussion just becomes an academic exercise.

we need growth in this country. >> are you getting pressure from president trump to get this done? >> me individually, no, but certainly i know that they are interested. i know they want this done. this was something i was with then candidate trump in november when he campaigned in pennsylvania, and this was something clearly he wanted to get done and he wanted to get done early. he saw there was a problem. he saw people were hurting because of the current policies and he wants that fixed. i do, too. i agree with him. it needs to be fixed. >> congressman, explain to us in layman's term if you can how it will be possible house freedom caucus, conservative republicans and tuesday group, moderate republicans, are ever going to find common ground. i know there are representatives from each mcarthur and meadows working this together but it seems you are at loggerheads with these groups. how are you going to find common

ground. >> number one, we're all americans. two we're all republicans. this is a discussion going on in the family of is it resolvable, and i believe that it is, and credit to both groups who worked very, very hard over the last couple of weeks. kben, our committee has been providing technical drafting assistance trying to put their ideas into action, put they will on paper so they can be considered by the larger conference. but whether those amendments are adopted or not, i do feel it's time for us to move forward and get the bill that passed out of our committee, which basically was -- it was a good bill. i've heard more and more people say that over the past two weeks. i think there is a growing consensus that the product that passed energy and commerce committee, ways and means, and then came through the budget committee, i think it's time for it to have a vote on the floor. >> wasn't the sticking point in that bill one of the sticking points the essential health benefits, some people wanted

them gone and some people wanted them kept? where are you now with those? >> i think that's one of the objects under discussion. look, i'm for giving governors more flexibility in states. i'm for all of that. that was a big part of medicaid reforms tackled in the bill and giving governors flexibility of block grant, capital allotment, threading the needle between medicaid expansion states and medicaid nonexpansion states. so all of that was very important groundwork, which was done in the base bill. i have not had a lot of governor's offices calling and asking for waiver for essential health benefits. but if that is part of the discussion, i welcome their input and certainly we may hear from my governors and state offices as this week goes on. >> congressman michael burgess, we will be very interested to see what you come up with this week. thanks so much. >> thanks, alisyn. >> thanks to our international

viewers for watching. for you "cnn newsroom" is next. for viewers we talk to trump voters about his shifting positions when "new day" continues right now. the president is working hard to keep the government open. >> construction of a wall is going to continue to be an area that moves forward. >> we're rushing into it. see some real plans. not just talk. >> it's a total waste of taxpayer money. >> we'll have a big announcement having to do with tax reform. >> his tax plan already met with scepticism because it would add to national debt. >> i have serious concerns about the pace of the investigation. >> we're going through the process but we're doing it quiet. >> pursuing nuclear capability, reaching possibly the united states. >> people put blindfolds on for decades and now it's time to solve the problem. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn cammarata. >> good morning. we begin with a shift president

trump believes could keep the government open for business. president trump now backing off his demand for a down payment to fund his border wall, likely averting government shutdown. >> we also have new details emerging about the president's tax plan. it seems to include a big cut in the corporate tax rate. how are you going to pay for that cut, what will it mean for you. a lot at stake day 96 of the trump presidency. let's begin with joe johns at the white house. good morning, joe. >> reporter: good morning, chris. you could say this is a show of flexibility at the white house. perhaps the president showing his negotiating skills. but taking the border wall off the table at least for now is starting to look like the only option given the fact congressional republicans had avoided making government shutdown a priority. president trump signaling a