well, a couple firsts for

president trump. he's back in new york tonight for the first time since he took office and he had his first legislative victory after the house passed a bill to replace obamacare. to see him and house republicans today, you would think that was the end of the story, that obamacare is out and trumpcare is in. that is certainly not the case, not by a long shot, this is just the first step. jim acosta has more. >> this is a great plan. i actually think it will get even better. >> reporter: this was a critical first step in delivering on a campaign vow -- to repeal and replace obamacare. and the president was making even more promises, that trumpcare is going to deliver for consumers. >> as far as i'm concerned, your premiums, they're going to start to come down. we're going to get this passed through the senate. i feel so confident. >> reporter: appearing with house republicans to savor the moment, the president and gop leaders were all but reading obamacare its last rites. >> i predicted it a long time ago. i said it's failing and now it's obvious it's failing. it's dead. we'll finish it off and go on to other things.

>> reporter: in victory speech after victory speech, the gone was laying out its strategy to see trumpcare over its biggest hurdle yet where moderate republicans and democrats are likely to see a far less conservative vision of the bill. house speaker paul ryan tried to make the case obamacare isn't worth saving anymore. >> the truth is, this law has failed and it is collapsing. premiums are skyrocketing and choices are disappearing and it's only getting worse, spiraling out of control. >> reporter: other republicans were talking about other criticisms facing trumpcare, its weakening for protections with consumers with pre-existing conditions. those americans, gop leaders insist, will be protected. >> how do you care for pre-existing conditions when there's no care at all? >> multiple layers in our bill that we passed today that not only protect people with pre-existing conditions but focus real targeted money on lowering premiums. >> reporter: privately, republican sources concede they're now in avilvulnerable position. >> the ayes are 217, nays are

213. the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. >> reporter: passing a bill many lawmakers have not read and before it was analyzed by the congressional budget office which said a previous republican health care bill would leave millions without insurance. after obamacare was passed in 2009, then congressman ryan blasted democrats for rushing their bill through congress. >> yes, i don't think we should pass bills that we haven't read that we don't know what they cost. >> reporter: which is why democrats appear joyous, singing "good-bye" to house republicans after they passed trumpcare. and house minority leader nancy pelosi was sharpening her knives for the upcoming midterm elections next year. >> let me just say that they have this vote tattooed on them. this is a scar they will carry. so it isn't -- it's their vote. >> jim acosta joins us from trump tower in new york. jim, is the white house saying anything about the congressional budget office score coming? that could potentially be bad

news. >> reporter: that's right, anderson. don't forget, the last congressional budget office score showed 24 million americans losing health insurance under a previous incarnation of this health care bill. it's unclear what the next cbo score will say, that's expected in the next week or so. we did hear the white house previewing its argument against the cbo score that's coming, sara huckabee sanders a white house spokesman was telling reporters earlier today it's impossible to score the bill because they don't know how many governors will be seeking waivers from that requirement in obamacare that people with pre-existing conditions be covered and so because of that, it's impossible to score just how many people will lose health insurance and what the ramifications of this bill will be. tonight we heard the president here in new york city sitting down with the prime minister from australia saying to reporters that, you know what? this bill is going to change a little bit tin the senate and perhaps get better, that's something we'll be waiting for in the coming weeks, anderson. phil mattingly is at capitol hill. he joins us. how do house republicans feel about a lack of score from the

cbo. it seemed like it wasn't a big deal for them. >> it wasn't. i think there's a recognition behind the scenes that this is a political attack ad waiting to happen. democrats waiting to seize on this moment. i spent a lot of the day with allot of my colleagues asking members after member of the house republican conference are you concerned about the idea that you would be willing to move forward on a bill where you don't know how many people it would cover and you don't know how much it would cost? this is what they had to say. >> reporter: how do you explain to constituents the fact that republicans will have voted on this bill without a full cbo score? we only have a score on the original bill. >> yeah, the -- the three amendments that are new aren't going to change dramatically that cbo score, right? so the basic cbo score is going to still be in the ballpark and then everything else we've said either expands coverage, takes care of pre-existing conditions or lowers premiums so every amendment added is a good move on policy grounds. >> reporter: how do you know this is going to be right given that there is no cbo analysis to

exactly say how many people will lose coverage and the impact this would have on the economy? >> i know we're doing the right thing. >> reporter: how? >> i know. >> reporter: a little bit of blind faith there, anderson. look, you heard from jim, there's a republican argument out there that the cbo doesn't necessarily score conservative proposals accurately, that the models don't reflect what they will actually do. so there's no shortage of war of words between the cbo and house republicans and they say, look, the initial proposal was scored, there weren't enough changes to majorly reconstruct how this would all come out, but there's no question, the fact that they are willing to move forward on this proposal without that score really underscored one thing -- they had the votes, they knew they needed the vote, they didn't want this all to hang out there and so they were willing to pull the trigger, anderson. >> practically speaking, can you just talk about what we know is actually in this bill? >> reporter: look, i think this is a really important point because we've been talking about the politics, we've been talking about the procedure but this bill is a transformative shift

of the u.s. health care system. that's one-sixth of the u.s. economy. and while there were points throughout this process where things seemed like they were cobbled together maybe in not the best or maybe most transparent fashion, there are still extremely dramatic changes here. i want to walk through some of them that are in this bill starting with the subsidies, how they would help people finance their health care and this would be a shift. they would change over to refundable tax credits. these credits would be structured by age, they would phase out by income, you would have a cap on medicaid funding by enrollee. anderson, that is dramatic shift in how medicaid would work. this is something conservatives have been working for for decades now. if this bill were to pass in this form, there would be a big win. you have more generous health savings accounts, another conservative principal they've been trying to get but because of the dramatic changes that means there's dramatic changes to what obamacare used to be and a look at some of those that would also be very important. the subsidies themselves, they would change. they're not as generous as they

would be structured in the affordable care act. there would also be an end to the extra medicaid expansion money that's been so crucial to the funding or insurance of more than 11 million americans through obamacare. you would also have an end to the limits of insurers charging older enrollees just three times more than younger enrollees. this is an age band issue which is a big deal and i think the crux of all of this, what we've seen over the course of the last week that has kind of changed the dynamic of the debate, the willingness to allow states to opt out of price protections for those with pre-existing conditions. agains again, this was a late change, a controversial change, one republicans say democrats are blowing out of proportion but their willingness to touch the pre-existing conditions issue at all, even though the bill maintains you can't deny coverage, they can change the prices if those states opt out. this is an issue that isn't going away and it's a major, major policy shift, anderson. >> so basically people with pre-existing conditions in the states that have opted out or

gotten a waiver would pay more? >> reporter: not necessarily. they try and institute protections here, right? if you have a plan with pre-existing conditions, that plan would be grandfathered over. but if you drop off your insurance -- and it's important to note, those with pre-existing conditions turn off insurance regularly, or if you move states you would also have to drop off your insurance. then an insurance company would be able to essentially price you at whatever they think it would be and that would mean dramatic price increases. republicans have tried to assuage those concerns, this is the latest change to the bill, the one that got them over the finish line, earmarking $8 billion to address those price increases themselves but the willingness to really even touch this issue, anderson, is a very, very big deal, why you've seen democrats seize on it over the last couple days. >> phil mattingly, thanks very much. as jim acosta mentioned at the start of the broadcast, many lawmakers have even read the bill, that includes republican tom garrett, republican from virginia. i spoke to him earlier today. congressman garrett, obviously a

very big win for house republicans and for the white house. you said yesterday "i don't think any individual has read the whole bill that's why we have staff." did you have a chance to read the bill before you voted for it? >> so we -- our shop read the entire bill. i think with the amendments we're looking at about 160 ballpark pages. i would be dishonest if i said i individually read it all, that's why we have a legislative staff but we discussed in the great depth. the goal we had was to create a paradigm in which we would see premiums and deductables go down. that's because as we discussed before, you can talk about beam coverage but if they can't pay their deductible, and statistics show most americans can't, then they don't have care. so the paradigm is about affordable care, not coverage. i think this will move us in that direction. >> your republican colleague in the senate lindsey graham tweeted out "a bill finalized yesterday has not been scored, amendments not allowed and three hours final debate, should be viewed with caution." how do you respond to that? >> well, let me say this first, i don't follow lindsey graham on

twitter. >> that doesn't surprise me. >> with all due respect to senator graham, we had plenty of time to review this bill because the component parts, while they filtered out over time, were all there. and, again, our end goal was to vote for a product that would reduce premiums, reduce deductibles, the affordable care act paradigm has been a false one. the last cbo scoring was a false one when they said 24 million americans lose coverage. again, we saw news stories a month ago that said two-thirds of americans can't find a thousand dollars in the financial crisis but the average deductible for a family of four is $4,000, $6,000, $10,000. we're talking about care, not coverage. i believe this will drive costs down. we feel good about where we are. >> so is that one of the reasons you would say that there was no need to wait for a new cbo score on this bill before bringing it to a vote? >> well, look, ultimately i've been in congress for a few months, they don't consult with me before they bring bills to the floor. i feel like i was very familiar with the product and comfortable

with what we voted for why it came to the floor when it did is a question for leadership but this has been a long time coming, i feel vindicated having been opposed to the original aca. we were told it was this or nothing, now or never and we knew that wasn't the case. if you want proof that the aca was broken beyond iowa losing all their providers, look at the -- follow the money and look at aetna and anthem who had in the years following the implementation of the affordable care act 165% and 85% gains in stock. $30 billion in dividends over two years. americans were getting gouged, the insurance companies were thriving, that was the dark deal made by the obama administration with the aca. we need to push the savings to people and not worry about the insurance companies, we need a more affordable end product. >> for a lot of people in the senate and around the country, the question of pre-existing conditions is first and foremost. that was a big sticking point as far as we know in this house

version as well. where do you stand on that? it seems like this $8 billion that's been set aside, is that you have? is that a real figure? >> the $8 billion is not enough, it's not a real figure but it joins $130 billion that was already there. let me give a hat tip to gary palmer from alabama who looked at the system and understood the vast bulk of costs are driven by a fraction of the population. we have a duty to ensure even folks with pre-existing conditions can get care but if you create high-risk pools and finance those high-risk pools and let the majority of the market function independently it doesn't take, you know, an economic genius to understand that the bulk of americans will have reduced premiums. then where you have high premiums for folks with pre-existing conditions, like, for example, my mom, there might be subsidies to ensure they, too, have access to care. but when you put everybody in the same pool it's like the equal distribution of misery versus the unequal distribution of happiness.

>> congressman garrett, appreciate your time, thank you. >> my pleasure and thank you for the opportunity. have a wonderful weekend. just ahead, president trump said something tonight, a short time ago, about australia's health care system that's causing some surprise and consternation. we'll play you that sound and talk about it next, the latest in the russian white house watch. the fbi director behind closed doors with members of the house intelligence committee. what we know coming up. i mean wish i had time to take care of my portfolio, but... well, what are you doing tomorrow -10am? staff meeting. 3:45? tai chi. 6:30? sam's baseball practice.

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so pruesident trump is meeting with australia's prime minister in new york tonight. something he said about the american health care system is raisi raising eyebrows. >> premiums are going to come down substantially. deductibles are going to come down. it's going to be fantastic health care. right now obamacare is failing. we have a failing health care. i shouldn't say this to our great gentleman and my friend from australia because you have better health care than we do but we're going to have great health care very soon. >> the headline there could be he's pivoting. >> you know -- >> nationalized health care? >> don't forget in the campaign as you know he was talking about the scottish health care system which is the nhs in the uk which is single payer health care. he's been all over the map on the substance of health care. he wants to sign a bill to get a legislative victory to help himself politically. it's not more complicated than that. >> the president said he thinks australia has better health care

which, obviously, interesting, because australia has nationalized health care. we just talked to senator bernie sanders and senator sanders comments about what the president said. let's play that. >> well, mr. president, you're right. in australia and every other major country on earth, they guarantee health care to all people, they don't throw 24 million people off of health insurance. so maybe when we get to the senate we should start off with looking at the australian health care system or the canadian health care system which guarantees health care to all people at a much lower cost per capita than we do. >> so jeffrey lord had one of donald trump's books on his desk. >> never give up. never. >> but another one of his books that he wrote in 2000 -- >> and by the term "wrote." >> very loosely. >> we use that term loosely. >> his name adorns the cover is -- and he was thinking about running as an independent for president in 2000, explicitly calls for single payer health care system.

now, having said that, he hasn't felt that in, you know, two years since he's been -- or at least certainly hasn't advocated that in two years but what we just saw goes to show donald trump -- vintage donald trump which is don't sweat the details and compliment the person you're with at any cost. >> always, always. >> that is a tic of his. >> it's being gracious. >> i'd say when he says we have a failing health care system in one breath and the next breath says "your's is better than our's," i don't think that's a big felony. i think this is him as you're saying, dana, he compliments people. he's a salesman. >> do you know of any conservative -- and maybe i'll ask jeffrey this -- do you know of any conservative republican politician who would have turned to somebody and said "you have a better health care system "who has national health care? >> i know lots of gracious conservative republicans. >> no, i'm --

>> let's think about george bush coming down the airplane saying to brown on -- after katrina "hey, you're doing a good job, brown brownie." >> yeah, brownie worked for him. >> it was a very polite throwaway line. >> it happens all the time where the bar is fundamentally lowered for donald trump. donald trump doesn't understand the fundamental tenets of health insurance. he doesn't understand this debate going on around him. today he had a ceremony in the rose garden and it's almost as if we have to go to back to conjunction junction what's your function, how a bill becomes a law because it's nowhere near the finish line. >> bakari, if barack obama understood as much as you were trying to say here we wouldn't be there this mess in the first place. >> you have 20 million more people who have health insurance because of barack obama. >> according to nbc -- >> that's an expansion of medicaid. there was nothing remarkable -- >> you just took it away in this bill, though. >> remember bill clinton -- if you're talking about silly rose garden ceremonies, bill clinton after he was impeached that day

brought the house democrats down to the rose garden for a rally. that was bizarre. >> i thought of that, too. >> this was just good salesmanship. >> but -- >> it was a pep talk. >> in fairness to donald trump, he did get very personally involved in this process, whether he understands the details or not, he clearly invested himself in trying to convince -- >> i had a conversation with somebody today, e-mail conversation, that said he was working the phones considerably. and this person was on the phone with him on occasion. that he was working, working, working behind the scenes to get this done. >> the important question here is why was he working the phones? he needed a political win. paul ryan needed a political win. let me finish. that's what he wanted out of it. you can see the relief -- >> that's every politician. >> i'm saying he wasn't arguing the substance. he wasn't arguing why this is better. he never has. neither have the republicans, hardly any of them have read the bill so he had a political win

for a second there but the problem is this has real we par cushions. >> one of the things we learned today is that mark meadows and mark sanford and the freedom caucus were correct and this is going to impact how he governs and legislates down the line. if you get the freedom caucus on board then the moderate republicans will fold and that's what we saw today. moderate republicans just folded into the process. >> ironically because the politics for them is much, much worse than the freedom caucus. >> correct. and you had legislators today -- as embarrassing as it is, you can quote paul ryan, who don't have a cbo score, who didn't see the bill and voted for the legislatio legislation. >> just this morning, speaker ryan was urging his members that this is what they campaigned on, they have to close the deal. >> they're getting on recess then you're getting closer to june, taxes are on the horizon, a lot of these folks would focus on cutting taxes than working on health care bill to be candid with you.

that's in their dna, cutting taxes so time was of the essence. the mentality was every day we're closer to calendar year 2018 it becomes harder to deal with health care and we have to get it done now. i'll be candid. a lot of members of congress on the republican side, they want to declare victory, they want to go home and tell their base we repeal and replaced obamacare. are they going to do just that? perhaps not but they want to sell that back home. and this is why. midterms are so much about the enthusiasm of your own base of voters, not swing voters, your base. and if they had not addressed obamacare after seven years of vowing to repeal it they would have had a heck of a hard time getting their base out. >> are democrats right to be excited about the midterms where they feel that this is going to hurt republicans and that they'll run on this? >> i think that's a little premature, actually. i don't know. it seems like that for some

moderate republicans this could be problematic but at the same time, we don't know what's going to happen. especially because this is going to go to the senate and toil in the senate and we don't know what will happen. so i think that would be a little more -- i would hold back on that a little bit. >> in 2010 barack obama lost 63 seats in the house and a half dozen seats in the senate. >> after he got obamacare. >> that's what i mean. this could be a problem for republicans. >> we republicans we do like taxes, we like economic issues. this frees us up because there's $840 billion in tax relief that now we can start talking about something that we are passionate about. what i thought was interesting about bernie sanders, he said he wanted to work on a bill. that's the first time i've heard a democrat say "we want to offer an alternative." >> then you haven't been listening to what they've been

saying. >> even barack obama came out and said if you want to work to make obamacare better, i will work with you. this is not a new concept. >> what republican is going to work with bernie sanders? >> sounds like lindsey graham might, who knows? the point is is that it's off the house's agenda. the senate will have pressure. they can't just say we'll ignore it. personally speaking i like to see senators work. >> today was a disappointing day for the united states of america on both sides. you had a republican congress and leadership who failed to fundamentally do their job. i don't care how you voted on the bill but understand what's in it if it's going to affect one seventh of our economy. and democrats who acted as if this was their first rodeo who looked childish. i was disappointed in my of my mentors for singing on the floor when you have women who are going to have breast cancer and won't be able to get insurance. so everybody today sucked and that's the fundamental problem. >> we're using that political

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tonight, the gop health care bill has cleared its first hurdle in congress. the next step obviously a tough sell in the senate. house lawmakers passed the plan to repeal and replace obamacare without waiting for the congressional budget office to score the bill which means no one knows what it will cost or which people will lose their health coverage. back in march, the cbo said the original bill that was introduced would leave 24 million more people uninsured by 2026. joining me now is former labor secretary robert reich, the author of "saving capitalism for the many, not the few." also, steven moore, a seen or economic adviser to the trump campaign. secretary reich, who wins, who loses in this bill? >> the winners are people who are healthier and wealthier. the losers are people who are sicker and poorer. we don't know exact li exactly the winners are going to win and

how much the losers are going to lose because the congressional budget office hasn't scored it yet but undoubtedly there will be a lot of money on the table and that money is going to go -- if donald trump and the republicans have their way -- to a tax cut mostly for individuals who are very wealthy and for big corporations. to me this is -- and i use these words advisedly -- this is morally repugnant. >> steven, are those the winners and losers? >> well, you make the case that obamacare has been morally repub nant. bob, you know there are millions and millions of americans across the country facing incredible financial stress because of obamacare. i live in virginia, we just lost, anderson, another insurance company there so we're one of these areas where there's almost no competition left because so many insurance companies have dropped out of the market. that is putting stress on american families. i believe with greater competition you could have -- cover everybody in this country. this is what the republican bill

aims to do at a much lower cost so it's affordable, bob reich and i agree on one thing, that the last 15 years or so the average middle-class worker has not had a pay raise. one of the reasons that's happened is because health care costs are so expensive that any raise that workers would get is going to pay for higher and higher health insurance costs that their employers have to pay. i don't believe, anderson, that obamacare on the current path, is sustainable, you'll have tens of millions of people losing their health insurance under the current system because the costs are so high. >> steve, you said a moment ago that a lot of people are suffering a hardship under obamacare, under the affordable care act. i don't know what you're talking about. 20 million people, or 24 million if you believe the congressional budget office, would have lost their health insurance because of the former republican plan. we don't know how many are going to lose their health insurance now. those subsidies kept up with increases in premiums. health insurance costs are going

up all over the country, even for people not in obamacare, that is a problem, but it's a problem that is a generic problem right now. we have to get control over those health insurance costs but how can you say obamacare, the affordable care act, was cruel or a burden to people? that's absurd. >> well, let me answer the question, because every promise that barack obama made about obamacare turned out to be a lie. it's not true that in many cases you can keep your own hospital and provider and insurance companies. it's not true the average family saved $2, 500 a year. most families are paying $2,500 more a year. if you're a $50,000 a year family in income and you have to pay thousands of dollars more for your insurance that's a big hardship. >> steve, let me ask you think. is it right the republicans voted for this bout r5without r it and not waiting for the cbo

to score this. >> well, would i rather have 72 hours, 96 hours to read every page of the bill? yeah, but let's face it it was nancy pelosi who said we'll read the bill after we pass it when obamacare came to play. >> which they attacked her for. >> democrats are being hypocr e hypocritical when they "you didn't read the bill" well none of them read the bill that transformed one seventh of our economy. but the big debate is a conflict of visions. i was listening to your debate earlier about whether we should move towards government-run system. it's something robert reich is very much in favor of. let's have that debate. do we really want a socialized health care system in america? >> that's not what we're talking about now. what we're talking about now is a system that was doing pretty well. i agree with you, steve, that there were -- >> no, it's not. >> wait a minute, there were flaws. it was doing well, the premiums were keeping up with increased costs, in fact, we know there were a lot of changes that a lot

of people and people working on obamacare wanted to make, the republicans wouldn't make and over the last six months there was uncertainty in the market and that's why some big insurers were pulling out but it could have been fixed and i hope the senate -- >> hold on -- >> wait a minute. i hope the senate will actually exercise some sense and get rid of this kind of -- >> this is where the battle moves. guys, i have to jump in -- >> come up with something sensible. >> we'll let you continue during the break. secretary reich, stephen moore, thank you. up next, i'll talk to senator john mccain. does he think the house should have waited for the cbo to score it? isn't it time to let the real you shine through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. some people who took otezla saw 75% clearer skin after 4 months.

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as we said, the gop health care bill the house passed goes to the senate where it faces a steeper hurdle and more scrutiny. this bears repeating -- today's bill passed without a cost estimate, a fact in direct contrast to what paul ryan himself was calling for back in 2009 when it was the democrats. listen to what he said about obamacare back then. >> i don't think we should pass bills we haven't read that we don't know what they cost. we shouldn't rush this this

thing through for some artificial deadline, let's get this done right. >> repealing and replacing obamacare was a key campaign promise president trump made. he vowed to pursue an american first foreign policy. we saw new signals about what that might look like. i spoke with senator john mccain about this starting with the health care bill. >> you've warned congress onto take it slow on repealing and replacing obamacare. what do you think about the vote that took place? >> i'm glad they got it done and we are bicameral and i believe the senate should take it up but we have our responsibilities. there's a lot of questions, including a state like mine, which is a medicaid expansion state but i'm glad we're moving forward. >> what are the big questions? what do you hope the senate version does? >> extent of coverage is obviously big. pre-existing conditions is a compelling issue. >> does it concern you that the cbo hasn't had time --

>> yes, we should have had a cbo estimate. i don't always agree with cbo. quite frequently i disagree but we should have an assessment from them and that's got to be part of the debate. >> your friend senator graham tweeted out saying "a bill finalized yet has not been scored, amendments not allowed and three hours final debate should be viewed with caution." >> he's absolutely right and i don't try to tell the house of representatives how they should conduct themselves but i know that's not going to be acceptable here in the senate. >> let's talk about foreign policy. just yesterday secretary of state rex tillerson gave a statement, he spoke to state department employees, and there's a lot of concern over the state department, it didn't get a lot of pickup but he said something that was interesting. he said u.s. foreign policy should sometimes separate values, things like freedom, human dignity and the way people are treated -- that's a quote from him -- from policies it pursues around the world. basically it was sort of the first definition of what an american first trump foreign

policy really is. is that the america you want? >> as yo know, i, like so many others, was a proud foot soldier in the reagan revolution and i think historians have all agreed that ronald reagan won the cold war without firing a shot. that was margaret thatcher former prime minister of england's comment and what was the basis of ronald reagan's approach to the then soviet union? it was adherence to human rights and values and freedom and matching what we had in our country with what took place in the soviet union. >> angela america until a meeting with vladimir putin the other day brought up the treatment of gay people in chechnya and jehovah's witnesses in russia. that's something that is sort of putting human rights in the conversation is something america should do? >> if we don't stand for human rights as a fundamental

principle that doesn't mean it's the only principle, but it is a fundamental principle, then we're no different than any other country. >> do you think president trump has that opinion? >> i hope so. i know he was deeply moved by the chemical weapons use and the pictures of the dead children that -- as a result of bashar al assad's use of chemical weapons and i believe that was the motivation for the cruise missile strike. >> he has said it would be an honor to sit down with kim jong-un. >> i know. >> he invited the president of the philippines, duterte, to the white house. >> i do not understand the comment about the north korean crazy dictator who is capable of cruelty that we can only imagine. >> it shouldn't be an honor to sit down with him? >> no. no, it should not be an honor. in fact i wouldn't sit down we they are one of them unless there was a tangible result that

would come from it and that -- what we were just talking about would be part of the conversation. the president of the philippines is now practicing and legitimizing extrajudicial killings. >> he's encouraging his police and others, vigilantes, to kill drugged addicts. >> and i understand even bragged about when he was a mayor of doing it himself. you cannot countenance that. if you countenance that kind of behavior, you countenance it in other countries as swollen to the -- as well so there has to be a price for us to pay in order to have a normal relationship. >> do you think -- the power centers in this white house from the outside it's hard sometimes to figure out who -- know who has the president's ear but i know you have great faith in general mcmaster. >> mattis. >> mattis as well, it seems like in a number of times they have been been used to assure our allies, well, the president may

have said this but our policy is remaining something different. >> thaad is the best example of that. the president said south koreans would pay for it and general mcmaster said not to worry. i think one of the things we've got to get accustomed to with this president is that rather than watching what he says -- although that's obviously important when the president of the united states speaks -- but more on what he does and i think sometimes -- and i'm not trying to psychoanalyze but i think sometimes he says things and then he gets his advisers around him who give him advice and he listens to them. i know he listens to mattis and mcchrystal -- i mean mcmaster. >> in terms of the investigations into this president that are ongoing how much confidence do you have in the committees that are investigating? do you think there should be a

select committee? >> i do and i think there's cooperation, particularly now in the house intelligence committee, i think they're cooperating more. i think in the senate there are two good men and women on both sides of the aisle and our intelligence committee but i think this issue transcends intelligence committees there's all kinds of activities that took place during the period when the russians tried to change the outcome of the election. >> you think it's not just smoke, you think there is fire there? >> i am sure the russians tried to interfere. now then the question is what are the events surrounding it? what individuals played in it and if they did what role did they have? from's so many aspects of what started as just an investigation about the russian attempts to change the outcome of the

election of 2016. >> in your experience when there's so many issues there's something there? >> there's no doubt in my mind. we more to know there were thing there is. we know general flynn didn't report some of the money he received. we already know that mr. manafort had a closer relationship with the russians and with yanukovych, the putin-sponsored dictator of the president of the ukraine at that time. we know more information as to the extent of this. >> mr. john mccain, thank you very much. >> always good to see you here. up next, more testimony from fbi director james comey on capitol hill today. this time behind closed doors. he wasn't the only one talking. machines don't have emotions. but the rare few can inspire them. ♪ the first-ever lexus lc. experience amazing

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trying to send a message of unity. after partisan bickering. >> we're working very well together, the whole committee is. >> they emerged from behind closed doors where they heard from mike rogers and fbi director james comey. lawmakers say comey has a tough road ahead as the fbi's investigation which includes probing links between trump advisers and russians during the campaign continues. >> it's no secret. comey doesn't get invited to many parties on capitol hill. he's about as popular as cholera. but i respect that about him. the impression i get of comey is, he's going to do his job and he doesn't much care who gets mad at him. >> reporter: it comes after comey's four-hour testimony wednesday, where he defended himself from accusations that his actions during the campaign helped tip the election to donald trump. he made it clear that russia is still interfering in u.s. politics, targeting both

parties. >> is it fair to say that the russian government is still involved in american politics? >> yes. >> is it fair to say we need to stop them from doing this? >> yes, fair to say. >> do you agree with me the only way they're going to stop is for them to pay a price for interfering in our political process? >> i think that's a fair statement. >> reporter: a total of four congressional committees are now investigating russia's role in the election. members traveling from capitol hill to cia headquarters in virginia to review classified materials. cnn was first to report on wednesday the former national security adviser susan rice is declining an invitation from senator lindsay graham to testify before a committee he chairs investigating russia. a source familiar with rice's deliberations said rice refused because the invitation was not bipartisan. it was said her testimony is not relevant to the committee's

relevance on russian interference. >> i think it would have diverted from the thrust of the hearing for her to come there. >> reporter: president trump, however, took aim this morning on twitter, saying, quote, susan rice, the former national security adviser to president obama, is refusing to testify before a senate subcommittee next week on allegations of unmasking trump transition officials. not good, exclamation point. cnn has reported that both republican and distribute lawmakers who have examined the unmasking request found nothing unusual or illegal. >> we just saw in your piece, the house intelligence committee members trying to pren a very bipartisan united front. are they really working in a bipartisan way? >> from what we hear, no. or at least not enough. i think we showed some of that on display at the public hearings like the questions, like the members, were split along party lines. republican members focusing on leaks, that kind of thing, and

democrats focusing on alleged ties between trump advisers and russians. we hear behind closed doors today, no longer playing for the cameras, but again, the questions were along partisan lines. that's in the house committee. and some of their divisions have been very public, as you know, going back to devon nunez. but we're beginning to hear that not only from democrats, but also republicans, the splitting along the lines. the senate probe is supposed to be the adult in the room for this. they're making something of an evident here. but the signs right now don't look good for this being a truly bipartisan effort. >> we'll be right back. i mean wish i had time to take care of my portfolio, but..

well, what are you doing tomorrow -10am? staff meeting. noon? eating. 3:45? uh, compliance training. 6:30? sam's baseball practice. 8:30? tai chi. yeah, so sounds relaxing. alright, 9:53? i usually make their lunches then, and i have a little vegan so wow, you are busy. wouldn't it be great if you had investments that worked as hard as you do? yeah. introducing essential portfolios. the automated investing solution that lets you focus on your life.

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of the billboard music awards just by using your voice. the billboard music awards. sunday, may 21st eight seven central only on abc. that's it for us. time to hand things over to don lemon. "cnn tonight" starts right now. president trump makes his biggest deal yet. but what will it cost you? this is "cnn tonight." the president taking a victory lap on the house vote to repeal and replace obamacare. but in reality, he and republicans are a long way from the finish line. here's the thing. this is not about winners or lose es. it shouldn't be. this is life and death for millions of americans. you'll hear from them tonight in this broadcast. but first, i want to bring in our senior white house correspondent jim acosta, also political analyst david drucker, and author of at