in what the president and others have said about it. and lately those twists and turns have gotten, well, twistier. or maybe it's turnier, i'm not sure. friday the president tweeted that he was under investigation for firing james comey. then his surrogates and spokespeople said no, that's not what he said. then some said something else yet again. and so it went. so it goes. the result, as you might imagine, was confusion and didn't clear up today at all. more right now from cnn's jim acosta. >> mr. president, are you under investigation? >> reporter: no surprise the president didn't have answers as to why he's under investigation in the russia probe. though he had this to say to the president of panama. >> the panama canal is doing well. i think we did a very good job, didn't we? we did a very good job. >> reporter: an though the president raised the specter that he's under investigation himself when he tweeted "i'm being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director, witch hunt." >> let me be clear the president is not under investigation. >> reporter: one of the president's personal lawyers jay sekulow oddly insisted the

president is not under investigation. then he all but admitted he can't be sure. >> you don't know whether -- >> no one -- >> you don't know whether he's under investigation or not. >> reporter: a contradiction he repeated on cnn. >> why you haven't picked up the phone to find out is a little odd. if i hired you i'd want you to make that phone call. >> well, you haven't hired us because we represent the president of the united states. >> reporter: the stonewalling continued in the white house briefing room, which was the scene of an off-camera no audio briefing where press secretary sean spicer provided more non-answers. can the president fire special counsel robert mueller? spicer, "i think the broader point here is that everyone who serves the president serves at the pleasure of the president." does the president have recordings of his conversations at the white house? spicer, "i will tell you i believe the president commented in the next couple of weeks. it is possible we have an answer on that by the end of the week." members of congress want to know where are the tapes? >> they have not been turned over but the house intelligence committee has asked that those tapes if they exist be produced.

>> reporter: the information blackout comes as the white house began what it's calling technology week by rolling out the president's son-in-law jared kushner to tout the administration's innovation of government services. >> by modernizing these systems we will meaningfully improve the lives of tens of millions of americans. >> reporter: kushner is now seek additional attorneys for his own legal team after discovering his personal lawyer once worked with the special counsel. that personal lawyer jamie gorelick said in a statement, "after at poimt of our former partner robert mueller as special counsel we advised mr. kushner to obtain the independent advice of a lawyer with appropriate experience as to whether he should continue with us as his counsel." >> jim acosta joins us now. why does the white house continue to hold these briefings off camera? >> reporter: it's puzzling, anderson. we get a different answer every day. during the foreign trip they held these off-camera briefings and insisted the officials who were being recorded be referred to as senior administration officials. that was baffling. today the reason was because the president was speaking in front

of the panamanian president earlier today. of course when he was with the panamanian president he was asked point blank, are you under investigation, and he didn't answer the question. so none of this makes any sense. my sense, anderson, is if they try to pull this on us tomorrow they'll give another nonsensical answer. but i think what it all boils down to, anderson-s that this is the people's white house, the briefing room is the people's briefing room and the people's answers deserve to be seen and heard. i think one of the big questions moving forward is whether or not we see some sort of boycott of these gaggles if they're going to be holding them without any kind of ability to record them. i think that's going to be the next thing moving forward. whether the press collectively decides, you know what, maybe we can do without these. >> jim acosta, thanks very much. now jim sciutto with breaking news on michael flynn and two trips to the middle east that are raising questions. so what are you learning about these trips, jim? >> reporter: this is based on a letter that was sent to michael flynn's lawyer. cnn obtained it today from the ranking democrats on both the house oversight committee and the house foreign affairs

committee. asking general flynn about a visit in september 2015 to saudi arabia not reported on a form as required by law when he applied for security clearance as national security adviser. and a second trip to saudi arabia later in 2015 where he did not provide key details such as why he went there or who he traveled with. and then in addition to that when he was applying for a security clearance again to enter the trump administration he did not report any meetings with foreign officials for the previous seven years, again, as required on that security clearance form. i reached out to michael flynn's lawyer that this letter was addressed to. he confirmed that they received the letter, but he would not comment on the allegations contained in the letter. >> we should point out, it is a crime not to report foreign travel on a security clearance form. that's -- >> reporter: that's exactly right. >> that's what they want to know about. >> reporter: it's printed on the form, and it's mentioned in the letter from the house democrats as well, title 18, code 1001,

knowingly falsifying or concealing material on this form is a felony. it's punishable by up to five years in jail. not that general flynn will necessarily face that kind of penalty. but the question is here why did he not follow the law on this report? especially since we know that he didn't disclose previous, for instance, discussions with the russian ambassador. so this is following a pattern of non-disclosure from president trump's former national security adviser. >> how does this factor into the ongoing congressional investigations as well as the special counsel investigation? >> reporter: with general flynn it's added to a list of very hard legal questions that he's facing. so now you have non-reports in effect on a security clearance form. that is by law a potential felony. you have the discussions that he had with the russian ambassador during the transition, what was the subject of those discussions, why were they not disclosed. you have prior payments that he received from russian entities when he traveled to russia.

speaking engagements that he did not report as well. that's required to be reported. so you have a whole series of things that become the subject of investigation for him that have, that carry real potential %-p investigation they raise questions of another pattern here, which is a lack of disclosure by a number of trump advisers, whether it be jared kushner or the attorney general jeff sessions, and that's one reason why these investigations continue to churn on, because you have these questions to be answered. >> all right. jim sciutto, appreciate the update. back with the panel. ryan lizza, jeffrey lord, kirsten quinn, and david gergen. you heard jim sciutto's reporting. again it raises the questions about general flynn and whether or not -- could he be cooperating with the fbi. >> yeah. as the white house made some news tonight on our air, that he thinks he is. i don't know what that was based on. but there has always been this question of whether flynn was talking to the fbi -- >> what would that mean if he was? >> well, if you remember, his

lawyer when he was trying to get flynn immunity, he dangled this -- >> he said he had a story to tell. >> a story to tell. we don't know what that story is. but the original thing that flynn was looking at was flynn's conversations with the russian ambassador when we know that the fbi was wondering whether it was a violation of the logan act, whether flynn was on his own making foreign policy in a way that violates this 18th century law. that was the first thing that caught the fbi's attention. the classic thing you do with someone like flynn is you flip them and try to get someone above them. well, there's only one person above flynn in the white house, right? he was at the highest level in the white house. and that would be president trump. so if he's a cooperating witness, he's either telling the fbi about other people who are on the trump campaign or the president himself. we don't have any evidence of that. but that would be -- that's what logic tells you if you're flipping him, he's going to get information about associates or people above him. >> if they haven't flipped him

yet, all this -- the new information that seems to be continually coming out, the new news today, he's going to flip soon. because he's got nothing but a world of hurt ahead of him. whatever story he has to tell, and we don't know what it is, is the only commodity he has in this right now. to try to save his own skin. so there's every likelihood that if that hasn't happened i would anticipate it's going to happen very soon, just knowing how these kind of investigations work. >> the interesting thing is the more emphasis on general flynn and whatever problems he has, the more emphasis is puts on the fact that there's no there there with the president and the whole russian collusion story, which is what the beginning of this was all -- >> how do you say that? >> yeah. >> well, so now we're hearing that general flynn didn't fill out something about relationships with saudi arabia? what does that have to do with colluding with the russians? nothing. zero. >> david gergen. >> no, no. >> david gergen. >> no, no. jeffrey, please. my friend jeffrey. listen, the pattern that jim

sciutto talked about very properly is a pattern that involves a number of undisclosed relationships, many in contacts, many of them with russians. it wasn't just a saudi trip. it was a saudi trip to talk about a u.s.-russian deal worth $100 million -- >> but the collusion -- >> and nuclear power capacity. but a, you don't forget a $100 billion deal and leave it off your national security clearance form. you just don't do that. you can go to jail. we all know that. but the more you see a pattern, flynn is a guy who's got himself in a variety of things. it raises the question front and center, is that why the president is trying to hard to protect him, to take him out from under the investigation? and that is where it leads to the question of obstruction. is the president -- what does the president know about flynn? his lawyer knows a lot, says he has one hell of a story to tell. what does the president know and why is he trying to protect flynn? >> and jim sciutto, the other thing we don't know.

jeffrey is saying this leads things away from the president. but what's not clear and david gergen raises the point, is the president has always defended flynn whereas he hasn't defended other people in the same way nearly as much. was the president directing flynn to do stuff? was flynn, you know, keeping the president apprised of whatever it was he was doing and was there anything improper with that? again, we don't have any evidence that there was. but that seems to be what the investigation would try to figure out. >> well, there are a couple open questions. to david's point, yes, it was a trip to saudi arabia but he says it was about a saudi-russian nuclear deal. in fact, general flynn mentioned this trip himself in testimony before the house committee on foreign affairs in june of 2015. he said, "i just came back from a trip to the middle east, talking about nuclear development there." so oddly enough, he said it in congressional testimony but then later left it off his sf-86 for security clearance form. so flynn's own words contradicting himself to some degree.

on the question of trump to flynn, when you speak specifically of those conversations during the transition with the russian ambassador sergei kislyak, when the issue of sanctions came up, something that general flynn hid, we know from the vice president, perhaps from others, was that something that was directed by the president? we don't have evidence of that, but that is a question at least democrats on the committee are asking as part of the investigation. >> there's also -- sorry. go ahead. >> what does this have to do with colluding to steal the presidential election? that's the charge. and that charge came about because a couple days after the clinton campaign ended with a defeat according to the book "shattered there," and i think you've had on the authors of this book, she was so angry that they decided -- since she couldn't accept responsibility for her defeat. pick up this story the russians did it. what does this have to do with that? >> jeffrey, that's actually -- >> let me step in. jeffrey, october 7th, 2016 is when the intelligence community released their statement.

one month and a day before election day. so long before we knew who the winner was going to be -- >> did wisconsin -- >> blaming russia at the highest levels of the russian government with high confidence for interfering in the election. so that assessment had nothing to do with the result of the election. >> jeffrey, you were just saying it was hillary clinton who motivated this after she lost but he's just pointing out this happened -- >> the fbi investigation -- >> i'm saying -- >> jeffrey -- >> where is the evidence this turned the election? there is none. >> it doesn't matter. hang on. no, it doesn't matter in my opinion if it turned the election. and you really all need to let go of hillary clinton. she lost. stop blaming everything on her. but you know what? it does matter -- it doesn't matter who won or lost. if the russians, which all indications are from the intelligence community, got involved in our elections, hacked into our simms, that's enough. like if it didn't turn the election, which i believe it may have, but let's find that out, that's enough. that's a huge problem, that the russians tried -- >> did donald trump say go do that? >> movie idea what he -- >> of course he didn't. >> but you don't either,

jeffrey. with all due respect, you don't know. that's why we need an independent investigation, that the president is not pressuring anybody on. and we need that to play out. and we also need the president and his surrogates with all due not respect but direction at you to stop criticizing and undermining mueller. he's moving forward in this, and as soon as you guys start to sweat you attack the messenger. >> all right. i want to dig deeper into more legal angles when we come back. talk to professor alan dershowitz and jeffrey toobin joining us. also tonight, the sadness, the fury and of course all the unanswered questions in the wake of a young american's death after being held captive in north korea. are you done yet?

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and is clinically proven to begin helping many patients achieve both symptom relief as well as remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. while not reported with entyvio, pml, a rare, serious brain infection caused by a virus may be possible. tell your doctor if you have an infection, experience frequent infections, or have flu-like symptoms, or sores. liver problems can occur with entyvio. if your uc or crohn's medication isn't working for you, ask your gastroenterologist about entyvio. entyvio. relief and remission within reach. well, is he or isn't he? and if he is why can't they just say so? we're talking about the president of course and who tweeted on friday that he's under investigation for firing james comey, then his spokespeople and surrogates spent the weekend and today saying he was not or that maybe he was. it was at times like some we're undergraduate quantum mechanics lecture where the cat is both dead and not dead at the same

time and your head hurts until you hear it made einstein's head hurt as well so you feel a little bit better. with that in mind listen to jay sekulow one of the president's new lawyers essentially declaring the cat is both dead and alive. >> now he's being investigated by the department of justice. so he's being investigated for taking the action that the attorney general and deputy attorney general recommended him to take by the agency who recommended the termination. >> there should be no confusion that -- no confusion. the president is not under investigation. >> no confusion there. joining us, hafshds lrvard law s alan dershowitz along with one of his students jeffrey toobin. and david gergen as well. >> two of my students. >> before we get to all that mishugas i want to ask you, professor, you came in here saying that -- >> i figured it out. >> what did you figure it out? >> flynn's lawyer is playing this very tough game. he is sending a message to the president. he's saying my client flynn's not going to jail. he can either make a deal with

mueller or you can pardon him. and if you don't pardon him we're going to mueller. that's the two options you have ahead of you. >> you think that's the message his attorney is sending? >> i absolutely think. he's a veryshrewdawyer. we know that he went public earlier. he's trying to send a message to the president that i have options and my options are with mueller. if you don't want me to go there, you have a way of preventing that. it's called pardon. it's what bush did to weinberger. follow that path. because he has only one interest, flynn's lawyer. keep flynn out of jail. it's very tough. it's very uphill. and the only way to do it is not on the merits because he's going to lose on the merits. it's by either making a deal or getting a pardon. >> jeff, what do you think about that? earlier, months and months ago, flynn's lawyer was talking about getting some sort of immunity and hinted that he had a story to tell. >> yeah, i mean, boy, for once i think alan and i are going to switch places. i'm going to be the trump defender here.

first of all, it's not clear to me that flynn committed any crime. i mean, false statements on a form is only a crime if you knowingly make a false statement. and you know, it's going to be some challenge to prove that this was an intentional false statement. but putting that aside, what is the evidence that flynn can give up donald trump? give up donald trump for what? it's not clear that flynn has anything to offer the prosecutors here. so i think everybody needs to slow down. this is not -- i don't think any deal's going to need to be made. donald trump doesn't need to pardon anyone right now. i just think this investigation should proceed a little more slowly and in a little more orderly way. and we'll see whether flynn makes a deal and whether he has anything to offer. >> taz your approach. but from flynn's lawyer's point of view he knows his client is vulnerable. why does he go in the public and say i have something to offer? lawyers don't do that. they generally go behind the

scenes to the prosecutor and say i have something to offer. when you go public, you have an audience. i think he has an audience of one. i think the audience is sitting in the oval office. >> i like this theory. it's interesting. it's fascinating. i just liked it when professor dershowitz saying i know what he's doing. >> i was singing it. >> you were singing it. >> i figured it out. >> i wish you all could have seen that. let's talk about what's going on with jay sekulow. jeff, we saw the president's attorney basically saying a couple contradictory things this weekend. what did you make of that? >> i saw jay sekulow, who is a really smart and good lawyer, feeling sean spicer's pain because he was up there saying donald trump is not under investigation because donald trump does not want to be perceived as under investigation. >> despite having tweeted that he's under investigation. >> right. but he's -- of course he's under investigation. look at comey's testimony. look at the fact that mueller is now interviewing the head of the

nsa rogers, the head of the dni coats. those are witnesses to possible obstruction of justice of donald trump. that's the only reason to interview them. it doesn't mean donald trump is guilty. it doesn't mean he's going to be charged with anything. but is he under investigation? of course he is. >> david, do you buy sekulow's explanation that the president's tweet was in response to a "washington post" article that cited unnamed sources that the president was under investigation, kellyanne conway said that it was i think -- i think she said he was employing irony if memory serves me correct. >> oh, yes. it's too clever by half. when anybody says donald trump didn't really explain the whole story because he only had 140 characters to play with and so therefore he just -- donald trump, if he had a real story to tell, would have done five tweets in a row. but i think what was going on here, anderson, is that something very similar in a very positive way, by the way, years ago when president eisenhower used to come out for press

conferences on really sensitive subjects he would be totally confusing. nobody had any idea what he was trying to say. he was on three sides of every fence. and when he came back in his aides would look at him in puzzlement. he said, i did that very intentionally. i created a fog bank. i wanted to keep my options open. i think in this case the lawyer, trump's lawyer was creating a fog bank. he wants to have it both ways. you can see it any way you want. but i do have one question for the professor and his student. can donald trump ultimately pardon himself? >> well, we don't know that for sure. the constitution's own terms don't impose limitations. it would be political suicide, i think, to pardon oneself. >> right. >> but legally the president's pardon power seems untrammelled. we've never had a case like that in history. it would be interesting to go back to the common law where the pardon power originates and see if any kings or queens -- i doubt that we've ever seen an example of anybody pardoning themselves. so i don't -- >> the one thing we know for

certain, though, is that donald trump cannot pardon himself from impeachment. the constitution is very clear about that. >> that's correct. >> that process is entirely up to congress. >> absolutely. >> good discussion, all. thank you very much. up next, more breaking news. all the questions now that the american student held by north korea has died just days after he returned home. when did you see the sign? when i needed to jumpstart sales. build attendance for an event. help people find their way. fastsigns designed new directional signage. and got them back on track. get started at fastsigns.com.

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he has not spoken. he has not engaged in any purposeful movements or behaviors. >> reporter: tonight warmbier's parents say their son has, quote, completed his journey home, that otto warmbier died at 2:20 p.m. eastern time. the family says when he arrived in cincinnati last week in a vegetative state warmbier's face looked anguished but within a day they say his face changed. he was at peace, they say. from president trump, a somber response. >> he just passed away a little while ago. that's a brutal regime, and we'll be able to handle it. >> reporter: warmbier's doctors told reporters they discovered he had lost much of his brain tissue due to cardiopulmonary arrest and that two brain scans sent by the north koreans suggested he'd been in a vegetative state for at least 14 months. experts say while they're surprised north korea would allow an american being held to reach such critical condition

they say mistreatment in north korean jails is not uncommon. >> we know that they apply very brutal treatment, torture, beating, rape to their own people and also to foreigners who are held in custody. >> all of a sudden he was thrown into this hell hole. so anything is possible. he could have suffered shock when he was sentenced to hard labor. he could have been beaten. he could have tried to take his own life. whatever the circumstances, it is likely the result of the fact that the north koreans put him in this situation. >> reporter: there are key questions still unanswered after warmbier's death. why did kim's regime keep warmbier's condition a secret for so long? >> perhaps they waited hoping that he would come out of the coma. he didn't. eventually they panicked. >> reporter: and how might the united states retaliate for the death of this 22-year-old university of virginia student who the north koreans had sentenced to hard labor for allegedly pulling down a

propaganda banner in a hotel? secretary of state rex tillerson said the u.s. would hold north korea accountable for warmbier's imprisonment. >> one reason to be careful about military retaliation is the fact that north korea now has missiles and nuclear weapons that could strike japan, korea, and potentially threaten the united states. the other reason is there are other americans who are hostages and in prison who we also want to get out. >> reporter: otto warmbier's family said in its statement, "the awful, torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the north koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced." when we called the north korean mission at the u.n. to respond to that, they hung up on us. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> cnn's will ripley has traveled numerous times to north korea. he's monitoring developments from tokyo where he joins us tonight. i mean, i know you've been in touch with otto warmbier's parents throughout this ordeal. it's hard to imagine what they

are going through tonight, will. >> yeah. i spoke with them last month before my latest trip to north korea. i was in the country last week when otto warmbier was released. and as of a few weeks ago they believed that his homecoming was going to be the happiest moment in their lives. they had been keeping a family journal to make sure they didn't forget any milestones to update him. they bought him a cubs jersey when the cubs won a world series. they bought him a shirt when the family took a vacation in hawaii. they couldn't wait to talk about all the political developments, the election of donald trump as president of the united states. they had been planning for this reunion. they thought that he with his upbeat personality was charming his captors and would have so many stories to tell. they never could have imagined that he was going to come home in the condition that he was and of course less than a week later now he's gone. >> what about reaction from north korea? you've been inside the country more than just about any reporter i know. have we heard anything from them

yet? what do you think is going on there? >> well, no official reaction to the news of the death of otto warmbier. the last official statement from pyongyang was that he was released on humanitarian grounds. hard to imagine how somebody being in a coma for a year and then being released is a humanitarian act. but that was the official government spin. i can tell you from conversations on the ground with officials in pyongyang when i relayed this news to them last week, they were visibly shocked. they didn't believe that it was true. they thought perhaps it was a united states fabrication and that in fact he hadn't been in a coma for that length of time. and when i showed them article after article that he was, they really didn't have a whole lot to say about it other than that they seemed visibly very, very surprised. >> there are, what, three americans still being detained in north korea right now. does this change the calculus and the efforts to get them released? >> i think it certainly accelerates the efforts of the u.s. state department to try to get them released. this strategy of the obama

administration, this strategic patience clearly not the strategy of the trump administration. so you have two american professors, kim hak-song, tony kim, they were teaching at a university in pyongyang, they haven't even gone on trial yet. you have kim done chol, a naturalized u.s. citizen sentenced to ten years of hard labor on spying charges. now the united states has to try to get these american citizens home. in terms of other potential retaliatory action they're really limited. they could impose more unilateral sanctions but north korea is already very heavily sanctioned. they could put more pressure on china to do more as they've been doing about the nuclear and missile programs. but at this point the number one priority of the united states has got to be to try to secure the release of these remaining three u.s. citizens. and to continue to encourage americans not to travel to north korea. >> will ripley, will, thanks very much. up next a fight over the health care bill escalating tonight with senate democrats trying to bring the chamber to a halt to protest the republicans' closed door process to get obamacare. the question is can they actually succeed? more on that.

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well, the fight over the health care bill escalating tonight with senate democrats holding what they are calling a talkathon attempting to bring the chamber to a halt to protest the republicans' closed-door

process to get rid off bamacare. the gop has been trying to cut a deal without involving any of the opposition. in any of the usual committee hearings. phil mattingly on the hill with the latest. the secrecy surrounding health care bill, what's the reason for it, stated or otherwise? >> reporter: it's strategic. and if you talk to senate gop aides and they're being candid with you, they're willing to acknowledge that. anderson, they're keenly aware of what happened in the house. there was a very public debate, kind of a torturous one at that. they want to avoid that. they recognize inside their conference if they want to get at least 50 of the 52 members of the republican senate conference to agree on this vote, on is this bill, they need to give them ample opportunities to hash out their differences behind closed doors, and those differences are severe in some cases. the ideological spectrum here in the republican party when it comes to health care there are significant divides on things like the medicaid expansion, the growth rate of medicaid, abortion, the structure of the obamacare rilgss. all of those things it was designed by senate republican leadership that those arguments take place behind the scenes.

that can insulate their members from outside pressure. give their members ample opportunity to have candid discussions about the direction of this bill. this is by design. make no mistake. republicans know they are going to get hit by this, hit about this, but anderson, the key goal here and the thing i keep hearing over and over again is it's the end game. the end game is to get to 50 votes and if this process allows them to get to that point that's a victory, anderson. >> senate democrats can slow the process down. they can't really stop it, can they? >> that's a key thing here. they are going to do everything they can to slow it down, whether they're giving consistent floor speeches over and over late into tonight, early tomorrow morning, whether they use procedural grounds to try to slow things up, shut down committee hearings, slow the process on the floor. the reality is, and i had one democratic senator tell me earlier tonight this exactly. we don't know what kind of effect this will actually have. but here's what's most important. here's the end game for them here. they want to draw light to this process. they want to draw attention to this process. they know for the senators silting on the fence right now, particularly the moderates, the phone calls, the e-mails, the pressure coming from the outside

can and likely will make a difference if it is intense enough. that's what they're going for right now. that's why you see this action on the floor and why you're going to see this going ahead. anderson, key point here. they are planning, snalt republicans, to have a vote next week no matter what. that's why this pressure is extremely important right now as they try to finalize any type of bill. >> i'll have to watch for it. phil mattingly, thanks. unhappy with the version of the health care bill that the house narly passed last month, seven governors from both parties sent a letter to majority heart mitch mcsxonl minority leader chuck schumer. the letter says the bill "calls into question coverage for the vulnerable and fails to provide the necessary resources to ensure that no one is left out while shifting significant costs to the states." joining me now, two of the governors who sent it, republican john kasich of ohio and democrat john hicken looper of colorado. governor kasich, what are you hoping to achieve by sending this letter? what would you like to see happen ideally? >> the first thing is that a republican and a democrat can get together. i mean, we have seven people on

the letter. john was able to get four. i have three governors. and designed to find some common purpose, which is we all can agree that we want to make sure that the exchanges, which provide people with health care don't collapse. and we know they're at risk in many places. so we've looked for points on which we could agree. hopefully to be sort of -- set an example that it's best for people to work together if you want to have something that's going to last and something that's going to involve both parties. i think it's important, and that's the meng i hope. >> governor hickenlooper, where do you see those areas of agreement? >> in the letter we lay out four basic components. enhance affordability in the private exchanges. we want to promote innovation and allow states more flexibility in doing that innovation. let states have more responsibility around -- within the regulatory framework to really find savings. really enhanced stability from

the private insurance market. that was a fourth one. those basic framework items give us a place to start. but from there you go in a million different directions because each one of those can lead not only in cost savings but allow us ton have not havel back coverage on who knows how many thousands or hundreds of thousands or millions of people. >> the fact the senate bill is being crafted in secret by a small group of republican senators, it's unclear at this point what exactly is in it. as a republican is that lack of transparency acceptable to you? >> well, no. you think i'm going to say yes, anderson? of course it's not. they've got to let people know what they're doing. this is like a sixth of the united states economy. and they've got to have an analysis of this bill and know how many people it affects and how much it's going to cost. but look, i was there when we went through a government shutdown and then the clinton administration and the republicans and the majority on

the hill got together, found common ground, some basic principles and we sat down and negotiated the first balanced budget since man had walked on the moon, and it provided surpluses and we had strong economic growth. there is no reason, in fact there's every reason in the world for people like john hickenlooper and some of the other governors that signed on with republican governors to be able to be an example to the congress. i mean, reach out to the senate democrats. i mean, work this thing together. because if you don't, frankly, anderson, it's not sustainable and the next administration's going to overturn this. and we never get to the fundamental issue of what's driving increasing health care costs, which we also have to do on a bipartisan basis. of course do it in the open. reach across the aisle. that's what i hope the message that's being sent. and we have practical solutions. we're not saying you can't do anything. we're saying there are some things we agree upon that must be done to make sure that people can have health coverage. >> governor hickenlooper, there's been a lot of talk about bipartisanship and unity on the heels of what happened last

week. how much would this health care bill benefit from actual cooperation? how much would that change the equation here? >> you know, i've never had a good idea in my life that the moment i started talking about it with staff or people around me it didn't get suddenly better. and to think that a small number of one party are going to come up with the right solutions is kind of crazy. you know, governor kasich was talking to me a couple weeks ago and we kind of joked about if you went through the whole list of issues there's probably only, you know, 5% that we really disagree on. we could find compromises on almost everything. and i think not only should the republican senators reach out to the democratic senators but i would volunteer that a bunch of governors who actually have to implement what they come up with who could give some substantive and meaningful suggestions on how to control costs and how not to have to roll back coverage. >> governor kasich, before we go i just want to extend our condolences to otto warmbier's family. he was from your state, obviously. i know you fought hard to bring

him home. it's got to be a very difficult time for you and obviously for many people in the state. >> well, i mean, for the family. you know, i talked to the family when he was first held there. and what an ordeal, to have your loved one, you know, being held in north korea and then you get the word that their health has been basically droid and thestr then you finally get him home and you lose him. we have to keep the family in mind and pray for them because this has got to be so extremely difficult. and really kind of underscores what that regime is about over there. but it's not about that tonight. tonight it's about them losing a very young son who was full of promise. >> yeah. it's just -- it's sickening. governor kasich, i appreciate your time. governor john hickenlooper thank you so much. coming up tomorrow, election day in the most expensive house race

ever. you're not going to believe how much this race has cost. it will be georgia's 6th congressional district. the democrats and republicans each want to prove its narrative about the trump presidency. the question is will the home turf of former house speaker newt gingrich actually turn blue? our gary tuchman spoke with voters there about the race. that's next. uh- i- [sound of wrench] [intricate guitar riff] [engine starts] [guitar continues]

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. we're just hours away from the special election of georgia 6 congressional district. it's been -- both parties have poured huge matsz of money into the race. it's also happened to be the former represented by the house of new begin gring. here's what gary tucker found out. >> reporter: welcome to one of the most republican blocks in one of the most republican neighborhoods in this republican dominated district in georgia. so republican that for year this is guy lived on the street. >> probably not. >> reporter: new beginning riches ex-wife still live in the same house in georgia. this now looks like a hot spot in the race between republican and democratic. gary sanchez has lived here for

34 years right now door to the begin grinch house. >> did you vote for begin grinch? >> yes. >> and this year voting for republican or democrat? >> i'm voting for the sflat. >> reporter: sanchez says the reason he's voting for democratic has to do with donald trump. >> you hear the president, let's drain the swamp but here we are in the sixth congressional district right. 38 years of the same style and approach. the same thing. >> reporter: it's been nearly four decades since a democrat has held a seat in this district which is troubling others on the street too. >> it's time for a change. >> reporter: he and his wife susan are democrats and have the only political sign on the block and it's for john as assaultive. >> i can't remember any president going back from ronald reagan, earlier, who has been as

crude in course to other people. i can't imagine ronald reagan talking the way that donald trump talks. >> i'm going to vote for karen handle. >> reporter: but the street will still deliver votes to the republicans. lin dpa has lived hereafter for over three decades. >> my vote is really more of a negative vote against the democratic party. >> reporter: among residence we talked to on and off cameras on this quiet street a clear republican/democrat split. >> i'm democrat. >> and i'm republican. >> so your still able to stay married? >> 40 years. >> most of the time. >> reporter: zoë king will vote for always assaultive. bruce sing for hand el. >> reporter: the race is very close which appears to be the case of the voters here. even a former neighbor himself seeing the race as in my opinion and tuck.

>> i think that it's probably even money who wins in georgia. >> reporter: gary tuchman, cnn cob county georgia. >> joining me david and gloria. david, i know you make the point it's hard to overstate how hard this race is? >> yeah i think the stakes is pretty huge for both parties. if handel can pull out the victory on republican turf that'll be a way to handle some of the concerns out there -- however if she loses the act opposite will happen. that concern will go to a near panic and i think you'll start seeing a lot of republicans in competitive districts start dealing with that difficult straddle of wanting to distance from trump but not do anything to dampen enthusiam among republican base.

>> gloria, beoth sides they eac have their reasons for expecting to win here. >> this has been a republican district since the '70s. tom price who left his seat to become s s h secretary. republicans should win this, this is a republican seat, but it is the kind of seat that democrats believe they can capture in 2018, because you have a large minority population an upscale college educated population. those are the kind of people they believe they can bring into the democratic chair. >> david, as gloria mentioned it is easy that the seat is up for grabs. >> yeah, as gloria said, i think this is hugely important. it's not the kind of place democrats could capture. they'll need to capture these kinds of place it is thai going to win the majority of the house back in 2018. the college educated white suburbnitis are exactly the kinds of republican that have

been proving elusive to donald trump. so if they are up for grabs, if you will, the democrats then it's not just the 23 districts hillary clinton won and have a republican congress person sitting in it right now, the universe temporary targets of democrats expands to look for these republican districts with those kinds of voters. >> just the cost alone gloria is insane. >> it is insane, you're absolutely right. don't forget these election haven't gone on for that long. there's groups that are studying where the money is coming from anderson, and one groups says that for every penny of local money, there is $10 worth of outside money that is coming into this district. so you know that the state, you know, the campaign committees on both sides are pouring machine in here, that the democrats are

raising money out of state to pour it in here precisely because as david said at the outset, the stakes in this race could not be higher for both parties. >> yeah, david, you have the president of the united states tweeting again about this race today shows those stakes are high. >> he did. he said get out there and hold for karen handle and misspelled her name initially and fixed that. i think it is the other portion of the tweet that's really interesting which is he hits john always assaultive the democrat for living outside the district. this has been one of the talking points. >> david, and gloria thanks. we'll be right back. ♪ if you have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's,

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that's all we have for tonight. time to hand things over for don lemon. cnn tonight starts right now. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. breaking news right now, michael flynn forgot to mention another foreign trip on his clearance form. this is cnn tonight, i'm don lemon. democrats want to know about flynn's 2015 trip to the middle east. their investigation could look at whether president trump acrossed the line with his investigation with fired fbi director comey. press briefings cut back as rumors fly that