zuketti. neil cavuto. you got that? stuart: i'm so sure this little girl now is going to hell. didn't you fool that. of all people, who are you doing that too? thank you, my friend. we're following up on this and whether we get a health care rework to your point, stuart. everyone is focused on the ends justifying the means. even if it perfect better than it was. republicans are being urged to go along and kind of shut up on this one. obviously whatever deal-making, late night arrangements to make this more acceptable to folks the fact of the matter is right now it is essentially what the republican party was dealing with prior.

not markedly different right now. growing confidence at least in the markets they will get this thing to 216 votes it needs as minimum to approve in the house. then it goes to the senate. that seems to be consensus building. i don't know why the numbers seemed to be there. there could be surprises. i can not tell you how many times consensus estimate on legislation didn't pan out as folk thought. we're keeping track of something probably not too shocking to a lot of you. we'll hear a lot more news from devin nunes, runs the house intelligence committee. a big debate whether he leaked too much speaking outside of the white house and follow-up comment he is making since. what i found out in the mainstream media, loved it on donald trump daring insinuating that his predecessor was spying on him. they were all over him like sting you know what. maybe there is particle of truth what donald trump is saying,

there is a whole different deal. bob iger by the way many thought would be the case did extend his lease for the magic kingdom for couple years, to july 2019. there had been a quest to find someone to replace him. that has often been the place, even before mr. eiger came to power. he will stay on couple years just to keep the magic kingdom going. main jibbing about legislation that looks like sausage making. peter barnes with front row seat and freed come caucus meeting with the president united states. hi, peter. reporter: conservative caucus members speaking with the members at the white house. he is trying to deal with them that will not cost him and republican leaders of the house the house republicans moderates that control enough votes to sink the legislation. >> as of this morning i think

there is 95% agreement on this conservative bill in the house but in washington, the last 5% matters. so the meetings of president trump an vice president pence is having with our members is critical going forward. we continue to work. i'm optimistic at the end of the day we'll get this done. reporter: freedom caucus members got one provision, lift the requirement of health benefits. requiring pregnancy and maternity care not something that senior citizens would need and moderate republicans oppose changes to medicaid will reduce coverage for lower income constituents. we expect more guidance when the freedom caucus emerges from a meeting at white house, also when speaker ryan has a press conference later this afternoon. stuart: peter, in the quest to

win over conservative congressman, freedom caucus members could they lose some moderates? >> yeah. that is exactly the risk. we heard from three moderates said they don't like the direction of the bill and they are again concerned about rollbacks in medicaid that could hurt the lower income constituent back home. so yeah, that is the balancing act they're trying to strike lear. stuart: thank you my friend. peter barnes in washington. quick look at wall and broad where stocks are up. i can almost time this tick for tick what is going on any legislation on the hill today. the better things look on the health care rework, whatever your views on the subject, the more wall street likes it, because it clear as path not only for onerous taxes they were never too keen on but big comprehensive tax reform the president was alluding to apparently in meetings at the white house this week. be that as it may we're not there yet. tea party patriots cofounder jenny beth martin.

she is against this plan. great america alliance co-chair, eric beach likes the i. you don't flip over but better than what we have and means to an end, right? >> look, president donald trump he could take the easy and most political path and really let obamacare fail. it is a failing proposition. it's out there but was elected to fix it. i more so appreciate his leadership and his approach. he is talked about being the master of the art of the and right now he is getting all of house members in line to say, look, this is something that we can go ahead and pass. of course it will be amended in the senate. we can focus on tax reform. he has already done job creation. the markets don't lie. pure your opening we were at 18,000 point when he was elected. we are close to 21,000 which seems to be baseline. the market will follow

leadership, and market is leading. stuart: don't take my baseline and markets. >> no one can do that. stuart: jenny, you're a purest when it comes to waste, when it comes to spending that doesn't get justified. you're in that camp that says obamacare light is still kind of obamacare, right? >> well, we are, we agree with the president that obamacare is failing and it's a disaster. he was re-elected to repeal and replace it and i know president trump is committed to doing that. the problem, the problem is that right now it does not repeal the heart and soul of obamacare. it does not take out the government control of government controlled health care. we have to repeal the insurance company mandates. removing the essential benefits and repealing that is a step in the right direction. they also have -- stuart: maybe that is all you need. what if that is all you need a step in the right direction? with republicans in control now,

you can come back as democrats did and add steps, right? >> if they do not remove guarranty issue, which is washington, d.c. speak for preexisting conditions, people will drop out of the insurance market. it will drive prices up. people with preexisting conditions will pay more and their quality of health care will negatively affected. that will be on president trump and the republicans. we're trying to help them keep their promises. neil, seven years ago this week, tens of thousand of us were on the capitol lawn begging conference not to pass the bill to begin with. we went back. we got activated. we helped change the majority in the house, the senate and the white house. stuart: fair enough. >> time to repeal this law and -- >> it was passed. stuart: go ahead, eric. >> it was passed. we've had tons of managements to try to repeal parts of it. the fact is you have to appreciate donald trump's leadership in this matter. you're right, this is with the

current bill's form it is now. as jenny mentions a step in the right direction. you have to focus on what he was elected to do, both repeal, which we're all in agreement on and certainly replace. look, it will have to go through a process the most importantly -- stuart: are you rushing the process, eric? to jenny's point do you risk rushing the process doing the very thing you quite properly criticized nancy pelosi for? >> no. we're governing from the majority. stuart: so was she at the time? >> absolutely. she was able to get it passed. she was able to pass her agenda. stuart: she got passed something that stunk. isn't the point doing something in reverse just as offensive? >> no, i don't think, it's a step in the right direction in terms of all the amendments being taken place. the bill is not perfect. stuart: right. >> at the same time you need to pass this so you can go on and get it amended in the senate and get it back to -- stuart: fair enough. you need to pass this to get a

better sense what the senate can do with this. what do you think? >> i think you have to have as strong a bill as possibly can coming out of the house. this will drive prices up. it will affect the quality of care, especially for those who have preexisting conditions. it is going, it is going to it harm them and the people who are hard-working taxpayers who do not rely on government assistance the absolute most. we have to do what we can to get this bill right and we want to bet it right. stuart: you would be okay if it delayed comprehensive tax reform which puts it off to next year which makes it a non-event? >> i appreciate so much president trump is meeting with the house freedom caucus right now and i am hopeful president trump will convince the leadership in the house to do the right thing. stuart: that is not what i asked. are you okay with the possibility, your hopes notwithstanding to do the right thing, this, whatever the merits in your arguments that it is delaying the big stuff like tax reform and that sort of thing? >> i would argue us having

health care freedom and the ability to decide what kind of health care we have and the costs that are affected with that affect just as much as tax reform. and it is what activists worked on. it is why they have the majority in the house and senate and the white house. stuart: fair enough. jenny beth martin, want to thank you. rick beep, thank you as well. >> thank you. stuart: we were flashing what is going on outside the west wing. reporters are waiting to meet with caucus members meeting with the president united states. give the president his due. he is meeting with anyone and everyone to be the so-called closer to try to make this happen so he is pulling out all the stops to do just that. to republican senator john kennedy who wants changes to the bill. i don't know what happens, senator, they say they do pass it hook or crook and it gets to you. what would you want to see changed? if it is pretty much the measure we heard talked about? >> i would like to see the work

requirement for medicaid made non-optional right now. a governor can choose to implement it or not. i think it ought to be a requirement. number two, i would like to see the mandates for the provisions of an insurance policy change. today, i can go to a grocery store and choose among 14 varieties of mayonnaise. i don't know why i shouldn't be able to do that for health insurance. right now under obamacare, the government's telling every insurance company which is taxing by the way, after it taxes them, the government tells them what they have to put in the policy and one size doesn't fit all and i don't like that. i'm not giddy with joy over the bill right now but i think it can be improved. it appears to me it's better than obamacare. stuart: all right. let me ask you, senator, we're getting indications here that speaker ryan still plans to hold this vote today, which means he is optimistic the votes are there, the 260 votes are there

in the house to get it approved today. i would assume that if he didn't think he wouldn't dare bring it to the floor. am i missing something or what? >> you're probably right. but i think its going to be very close. i think some of the votes are fluid. i don't know if it is going to pass. if it doesn't pass it is not going to be the end of civilization. stuart: all right. >> we'll come back and try again. stuart: here is why some people worry about, you're aware better than i, sir, if it doesn't pass, whatever the merits or lack thereof in this, it pushes everything back in the republican agenda. >> it does. stuart: do you buy that? if this is getting to be such a thorny issue republicans dump it for the time-being and focus on comprehensive tax reform? >> it's a thorny issue. it is an extraordinarily important issue. yes the ideal situation is to do health care and move to tax reform. i'm very interested in tangs reform.

tax reform to me means lower taxes. stuart: if this thing got stymied sir, would you be willing to say forget it? >> no. i would be willing to come back to it. stuart: you want to get this right first before tax cuts? >> i do want to get it right. stuart: okay. >> we're in agreement on one thing, i don't mean any disrespect but i think a vast majority in the senate and house agree that obamacare sucks. it is horrible. which can do better. we'll not come up with a bill that is perfect everybody is in love with. but the current house bill, i think, if you're going to be reasonably objective is better than obamacare. but we can make it better still in the house and in the senate. stuart: your colleagues saying, senator, to your sucker analogy there at least it is not the titanic if it is sinking it is still bad? >> i don't know if i agree with that analogy.

stuart: i was trying to clean up your language. >> i said i meant no disrespect. stuart: i'm kidding you. >> my way of expressing it. to help to 25 million americans under obamacare, congress turned upside down the health care delivery system for the other 300 million. i would like to do something for a change that helps all of them. neil: all right. >> for a change i like to design a system looks like somebody designed it on purpose. neil: senator kennedy, well-put. good seeing you. >> thank you. neil: all right you know, you're probably around the time donald trump made accusations his predecessor was spying on him, tapping his phones. people said oh, my god where did he make this stuff up? comes the house intelligence chief, a different matter.

trump folks, including potentially trump himself were sucked into this tent but i don't see a lot of reporting of that. after this. ♪

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our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say: if you love something... set it free. see you around, giulia ♪ this is a strategyis, fi'd recommend. this actually makes sense. now on the next page you'll see a breakdown of costs. what? it's just... we were going to ask about it but we weren't sure when. so thanks. yeah, that's great. being clear and upfront. multiplied by 14,000 financial advisors, it's a big deal. and it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. thank you so much for that down home welcome. show me female vocalist of the year. thank you so much. thank you so much acm's, i appreciate it. show me acm best moments. i could never have wished for,

asked for and dreamt of anything more than this. catch your favorite moments from the acm awards and an exclusive encore performance by kelsea ballerini following the show on xfinity x1. the acm awards. live on sunday, april 2nd 8/7 central on cbs. >> if it doesn't pass, is there a plan b like -- >> there is no plan -- there is plan a and plan a we're going to get this done.

>> so you're confident 100% confident? >> we're going to get it done. that is it, plain and simple. neil: no plan b. no backup plan. if it is up for a vote in the house, health care repeal and replace effort, that republican leaders are pushing get shot down there is no alternative plan for the time-being. blake burman live in the white house right now, where i guess some of these freedom caucus members have been powwowing with the president. he is trying to win them over. any word whether he is succeeding? reporter: speaking with the white house fishes moments ago, neil, trying to get a feing what is taking place inside of the white house, i was simply put, simply told, full team ahead. that is what put to me by one white house official. they still feel confident the president can get it done. the closer, as sean spicer said it is fair to call the president that as it relates to health care that he can get the groups together. house freedom caucus, overwhelming majority of them

are here at white house meeting with the president at this hour. it is belief that the president will need the majority of those house freedom caucus members to get this over the finish line. if he is able to get some house freedom caucus members, maybe they let some of the moderate votes slide. the president is active on twitter two between real donald trump and potus account trying to give the final sales pitch on this final day. it is believed the vote is still possible to take place tonight and the president says this is the moment. he is urging folks to call their lawmakers. listen to the video he put out moments ago. >> go with our plan. it is going to be terrific. you will be very, very happy. call your local representative. call your senator. let them know that you're behind our plan. reporter: of course the other issue, neil that is hanging over this white house on this day is the reports, the information that congressman devin nunes put

out there yesterday saying there was incidental clubbing shun during the transition period of trump transition members that rose to a level in which he said he did not feel comfortable with. that is why he brought that information here to the ite housto the pdent yesterday. nunes sayinglier this morning that he has apologized to his members, democratic colleagues for going to the white house first, going to the president first around not the committee first. democrats on this story are saying that they feel that there is a little bit of a song and dance between nunes and the white house. they feel that there is a connection here. listen to one of the colleagues, his colleagues on capitol hill. >> i'm of the opinion this was orchestrated either from the white house or by possibly someone associated with the white house. reporter: i asked the same white house official, neil, to comment on that. there is no response to the

claim at this hour. we have sean spicer's white house press briefing in about an hour or so. you can believe health care, the nunes claims, will be top of mind as we steamroll to possibly this vote taking place later today, neil. neil: you're going to be a busy guy. thank you my friend, blake burman at white house. i want to share something blake mentioned concerning media coverage of this, nunes's comment here, you know there was some spying going on. might have been involving the president and web something in the "washington post," says unproven claim of data gathering of trump angers others on the panel. w everyone took it at face value when the chairman and his democratic colleague said there was no proof to donald trump's allegations that his predecessor was spying on him and tap iting his phones. they accepted that at face value. so immediate thought there could be something to the contrary

here on data gathering involving donald trump with others, then that was no, no, no. that is not fair. that is not balanced! former cia analyst fred fleitz, what do you make of that, fred? >> this information is pretty damning which is why the democrats are desperate to discredit nunes. these claims by the democrats that nunes is no longer interested serious investigation of russia interference in the election, neil, remember what happened on monday? frankly the democrats have made a mockery of intelligence oversight by their efforts to politicize that open hearing when they readies credited unverified claims into the record. i think nunes is on to something here. neil: it would be fine if they were consistent on this argument. i don't know who is right. everything was accepted at face value and he and his democratic minority leader in the same panel said look, we can't find any proof to allegations

donald trump has made that his phones were tapped. i know this is a little different here, but no acceptance of this, of this charge in the other direction, it just seems weird. >> this is something very different. nunes has intelligence reports. according to nunes there is personal information about trump officials that shouldn't have been in it, that doesn't have intelligence value and the names of multiple trump officials were unmasked. neil, this had to be done for political reasons. there will be a paper trail. that is why i think adam schiff is so worried. neil: talking about the minority leader here of the democrats on this. but here's what maybe you can help me with it. is it fair to say that if you are getting intelligence on trump officials and let's say it extends to even screening their calls, tapping their phones, whatever, that in the process they could be talking along the way to donald trump? they're not necessarily going after donald trump per se but they have conversations that

will include the then president-elect, then even prior to that candidate trump in the course of that? >> i think that's right. there are several games being played here and my belief the obama administration was surveilling the trump campaign but i think we have to be very careful how we describe it. i think there were fisa warrants to collect information against trump officials, however that hasn't been proven. i believe tell against collected for other reasons was scoured by obama officials to find references to trump officials that could be leaked to the media, say, well, this is just incidental collection. we didn't target trump but this is still wrong. neil: where is this going? you always remind me of this, you can't ignore the heated political environment which we all live today but if you're going to start picking and choosing that the intelligence that suits your thesis, republicans can just easily do

this seizing on this, versus ignoring other stuff, where is this all going? what i see is that a lot of stuff just gets leaked out, and a lot of stuff. that is the worrisome thing? >> i don't think we're going to have a conclusive answer to the russia story or trump collusion with russia from congress because confess is so divided and democrats are not interested in a serious investigation. that is why i don't blame nunes coming right to the press. neil: should he have come right to other memmembers of the committee? i'm going up pennsylvania avenue show this to the president? should he have done that first? >> i think i would have went to the other committee members before i went to the president. neil: right. >> but i don't blame him going to the press first. if he went to the democrats they would have went to the "new york times" and spun this, basically to eliminate the significance of this report. neil: that is a very good point. fred, thank you very much. former cia analyst in washington.

speaking of washington, looking outside the west wing of the white house right you now where the powers that be sit on most conservative caucus on capitol hill, freedom caucus, 30 plus members strong. the word is the president is doing his darnedest to win them over, at a least majority of them to avoid 21 or 22 voted against this healthcare measure. if it is shot down in the house today, there is no plan b, sean spicer says, which leads me to the fact that there is a plan b. more after this. and at $4.95, you can trade with a clear advantage. fidelity, where smarter investors will always be. destroyed everything in our living room. we replaced it all without touching our savings. yeah, our insurance won't do that. no. you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance

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neil: i say that so many times come i'm glad you're not here during the break and welcome back, everybody. welcome back to the high points of the market. a little bit more than 80 points. republicans are going to get this done today. i don't know what they're basing it on, but sometimes the markets are bright with these things. i've got my buddy, charlie

gasparino here. >> tell them what we were talking about. the health care bill come against coverage is in there. neil: thank you for that. riddle me this. if the obamacare rework is obamacare light, obamacare to point out in the argument for doing this is that better than it was her better than we had common that seems like a half as argument for getting something done. by that definition, another bill running into an iceberg simply because it's not as big or not as many as the titan. rate? >> yes. based on what i'm hearing from people close to the white house and people close to the freedom caucus, donald trump is trying to get these. these are republican house members. >> they might change their mind. >> we understand going into the

meeting, derek and dave. mainly they have 30 no posts, which means you only need 22 no votes on this theme. they're against it with dirty no posts. trump is going to say listen. i'm going to give you a lot of stuff here this is better than obamacare and will keep trying to fix it. step one in a complete revamp. neil: getting up in mark tony soprano did not. >> the tony soprano thing didn't work the first time. now it like guys, we have an agenda. >> you're right. there's no way to guesstimate days. how does that reflect on him? we run into this a couple months in office. >> the one issue with busyness, i agree with that. bill clinton had hillary care and he lost. >> fillmore, the landfill.

you were involved in that. >> i was. the problem is that he is a gislative agenda is at least according to him is all predicated on getting this thing done and go into t taxes. >> the art of the deal -- >> title, you should read it. one of the things or is it time for hinting and a time for gestating. i think he is at the speeding car. >> i think he say listen. >> the president of the united states -- >> to a tax cut than the rest my legislative agenda? let's get this done. >> that is stating the obvious. >> they want tax cuts. they want smaller government. he will say listen, you want to screw up my legislative agenda? neil: here to tell them they could be history at the majority. >> the other thing is more effect than i think he'll get the vote in the end.

in the end, if he doesn't get it, i will say this. but markets are trading not on some optimism. if he doesn't get it, the traitors they talk to say it will be pretty much a blood because she is the way the traitors run into this. wall street that dominates macro events. they are betting it's going to get it. neil: sometimes that they've been on are what you think you're doing to get the markets higher. a thousand points a lock on it didn't materialize and then they vote on it and they continued with it. so the markets can be wrong and appeasing them can be a problem. let me ask you about the president might pitch it this way to house members. low, less than sixth in the senate. let's get past this hurdle today. let them address your concern in the senate.

and then people work over in the nate. >> recalcitrant people. neil: i understd. >> by the way, that is what makes this so scary about the bill. the house was the theoretical layout because paul ryan would crack the whip and get everybody in line. the fact that it's hard in the house makes you think the senate may not work. neil: do you think paul ryan of history at this point? there's a lot of talk about that. they had to commit them to take the job. he might say sayonara. i want to go back to my district. the next 48 hours are key for the markets. they are key for anybody. here's the thing. the economy needs to grow. that's what this is all about in the end. you've got to fix health care. get the economy growing. if it's still the end of the year before we get a fiscal real estate on the economy, that's

problems. neil: real quickly, one part we are told that that tax settlement, so guys like you would see an immediate tax cut this year. how much of the trouble that be? attacks is my mate -- neil: on the rich and all that you >> it could be. no question. >> sorry about that. donald -- i mean, neil. there is some aspects of obamacare that they won't left out of this bill and not really where these guys go. you and i are so. there was a few bucks. we are happy here. pumpkin spice latte, will do anything. neil: really? you're going there? >> all bark like a dog. [laughter] neil: thank you very much, charlie gasparino. done, end of story.

i do want to take a look at what's happening outside the west wind. just wait for these guys to come out. here's the one thing i love about politicians. a few microphones, they talk. they will talk if one of of those microphones as ours. we will listen to it after this. ♪ thrivent mutual funds. managed by humans, not robots. before investing, carefully read and consider fund objectives, risks, charges and expenses in the prospectus at thriventfunds.com.

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neil: it still looks like the lone attacker in yesterday's assault in britain was khalid massoud, 52-year-old tradition man, who apparently was that the non-is so despite the fact that he rounded up eight others in the process of finding who was behind this. the fact of the matter is they had to let it go. that doesn't mean they're still not trying. there are other things that lead to links in this case.

extremists in the words of activity, that they left a bag. meanwhile, back in this country, blake were reported the white house is saying tonight that is still full steam ahead. it'll go through but a number of republicans besides caucus members chatted with the president as we speak that it shouldn't have been. it isn't worth dragging this out. koch brothers are pouring millions into stopping this because they say it just takes a bad mix of ours, babylon make the worst. freedom partners executive vice president has one of those to himself. james, good to have you. you have heard from those who say it isn't perfect, but it did -- up to have to go ahead and approving a law that dirty out there and getting the tax cuts and other things that voters wanted for donald trump. >> well, first of all, teen! for having me on. the problem here is that it doesn't fix the problems with health care.

it actually keeps all the bad elements of obamacare in place. it keeps the subsidies. it keeps the mandates and insurance regulation that lead to increased costs for consumers. it keeps 40% by attacks for the cadillac tax in place. it doesn't repeal the medicaid expansion fast enough. tree into the reason i'm trying to be clear here is you don't buy the argument some have been linked to go ahead and vote for this. the senate can clean us out. we control capitol hill right now. we can correct and revise a lot of this stuff, just as we have is processed in the house did you say what? >> it doesn't keep the campaign promises members have made. we are here to say to those members who really want to repeal obamacare and the house has done it before. they did against it ain't. why not put the bill back on the floor and vote on it.

>> there's variations of that dozens of times. exactly. do it again. exactly. the promises you made to your issue and. neil: you know, one of those promises can we chat about this. another promises regulatory relief. they tax cuts, all this other stuff the president has fleeting but getting this stuff done first. this is stymied by whatever efforts in a brace couple good why they should read. the other stuff doesn't get done. those are some of the problems this president and congress in its maturity made. >> all of those issues, a lot of major issues that we can tackle at the country that we need to tackle. the prioritization of some of these issues up for the white house and congress is a good priority. we want to see comprehensive tax reform. we want to get rid of regulation.

we've been supportive of the president measures to get rid of some of the burdens of regulation that skilled job and opportunity in america. we will continue to support on those and nominations like judge gorsuch's nomination. before this bill, it does not live up to the campaign promises republicans have made it actually continues the worst parts of obamacare. we will continue to stand beside those lawmakers who stand principally. true to what he is going to the ones who don't? >> you know, kelley ayotte is an example. we had previously supported her and we decided we can no longer stand with her because she wasn't getting beside those principles anymore. neil: what about the republican congressman, james, who don't go along with what you want to see don, which he promised to look into her with the koch brothers

look into these guys? >> is going to be hard for us to stand by them. we will look for a total those they take on all of these issues because we want to make sure that we are standing to the side , standards and principles that make our country better. neil: and i are nice guy, but that sounds like a threat. >> like i was saying earlier. even not stand with legislators are among t roostern an election can have some pretty profound consequences. kelley ayotte is a great example of that. if we had been active in new hampshire, she would still be in the united states today. neil: we don't know. thank you so much. could be near. we are waiting to find out some of those congressmen meeting went to president paypal. secretary mnuchin to join them later. how would feel about any who say stick with the president on this

and go ahead and vote for this. would the koch brothers, other groups of notes including james starts saying there's going to after this. get up to $2,500 customer cash on select 2017 models for these terms. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

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neil: all right. much has been made about how the intelligence chief and where he

was getting its information and media saying he pulled it up out of nowhere and then goes to meet with the president, talks to the press before addressing this with fellow community members. jim's residents reporting on capitol hill. this has cooperated information, a lot of it predates donald trump's march for accusation that the obama administration had been spying on him and apparently the obama administration was using the cover of legitimate surveillance of foreign targets to presumably then go after the president elect in anyone in his communication the media is already questioning anything having to do with donald trump may be feeling right and not so willing to point out the stuff on the books that donald trump could be proven wrong. that is advice that comes up then again and again. what he makes of that double standard. one thing that stands out to me

is there's never any doubt when the chairman comes out with this ranking minority member to say there's no proof. do you know, trump's phones were tapped to never accept that this value. when there's a wrinkle in his tory, that the administration could still than could still cannonball spying on donald trump, even indirectly. would he think of that? >> well, i think you're exactly right. this morning you had an anchor on msnbc asking if nunes should resign. nbc had not lower asking a little committee should shut down because of this. they were criticizing him characterizing the investigation on sunday when he was basically saying things that confirm the media's bias that there was no evidence, but he comes out on wednesday was something that was started gently suggest there's something going on with the way they were handling intelligence and all the sudden they should

be resigning for office. that makes no sense at all. >> they didn't matter last year when they involved hillary clinton. they all of a sudden matter now. because of who the leaks are about. but this is fairly glaring and obvious. >> look, chairman nunes could've done that apparently people in the obama administration are doing. he could've linked information to a reporter. a good shot shone not getting his paper this morning. it still would've gotten out there. instead coming was very up front. he gave a press conference. >> even listening to reporters at that would've allowed them to get out of giving much promise. >> he would've had to to pick the rate news organization. but yes, i think it would've gotten out there. the president could have learned about in the her friend had her

from his own people for that matter. same informatiinformati on from his own intelligence people. instead he did this in public isn't being vilified for it. that shows the lake is that if you come up with information that confirms the media bias can be your hero. he challenged the media bias, all of a sudden you're not fit for public office. >> it's always your point of view, but the length of time is spent talking reporters yesterday that all of a sudden the media had a problem with that and being assessable. i'm not stuff not so much. >> way. it's almost as if they say we don't want this information. a week or two ago we were hearing we don't wanthim know what's going on. not at honor. telling the public what's going on. you shouldn't be talking to us. we should be hearing this. it's a very different standard. neil: quite well put. senate research director. what i always like to tell

folks, we have 24 hours. we had time to get into folk. the stuff with trump and the stuff that's receptive to trump me you don't have to pick and choose the stories. you've got more time than there are napoleons on the planet. why did i use that? a little bit more after this. . . .

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neil: all right, we are told the freedom caucus with president trump has wrapped up and most of

the members have left. they didn't go out the front door. we had cameras on other doors, i'm sure. i cannot imagine that they would, in fact, there would have been opportunity to talk to reporters. i don't know what to read into that. i just pass it along for what it's worth. ahead of getting details of any on the meeting and the vote later today, where do things stand? let's go to chad. you will catch him in meetings, he's very smart. >> the fact that everybody is being circumbent is we don't have an agreement. they are working on a deal and they are not there yet. they can get most or all of the freedom caucus members on board, they might try to move ahead with this bill and it would be a very narrow vote.

now, at the same time just one level below me on the u.s. capitol, second floor, on the first floor the group of moderates, the tuesday's group is meeting. they feel like they got the screws put on them last night. he put out a statement indicating that he was a no. let's think about the mathematics here. 430 members to have house of representatives, the magic number is 216. it will probably be lower than that because you have absences, the number is going to be little lower if and when they take the roll call vote. you can't win the vote by one. you might remember in 1993 there was a former member from pennsylvania who happens now to be chelsea clinton's mother-in-law. there's a former reason she's a former member.

she cast the deciding ballot to pass a budget package at the behest of hillary clinton. she paid a political price for that vote. you always if you're the whip have a couple of members in your back pocket. you think everybody is going to be there, in case you don't get the votes you actually want, you have them in hip pocket. right now, neil, no vote scheduled, meetings going all over the capitol. one of the architects of this bill is downstairs in the house of the house majority leader mccarthy and no agreement

whether they should go ahead with the vote of this bill. neil: some of the members leaving in the white house right now in the parking hour next door to the white house and the white house itself, ey are not stopping to talk to reporters, what do you glen to that, chad, that they are not talking to anyone. >> usually that members are quiet, that means something is up. he had group of moderates, the tuesday group in there and everybody left very and those who did walk out, ryan of pennsylvania, they didn't say a word. sometimes these members think that they are being asked to walk the plank. they thing that the changes are a bad bill and people don't want to commit until they see legislative text. remember that the house republican leadership has put out a website that says read the bill. they made a big point about obamacare and members didn't read bill. whatever the changes are going to be, no one knows precisely

because nobody has seen the bill yet. neil: real quickly, the speaker would move forward with the vote if he felt he was going to pass, right? >> well, we think that they would go ahead no matter what. neil: really? >> that's unclear, neil. this is a special budget reconciliation package. you're considering budget consideration rules. the reason they do it that way they can shut off a potential democratic filibuster otherwise they can't move this bill. it is a mirky parliamentary question. you have defeated a reconciliation package in either house and senate whether or not you can resuscitate it. if they have an outright defeat on the floor that could be dangerous parliamentary territory to bring up again. neil: thank you very much. amazing. chad in washington in the middle of all this intrigue here.

we have republican congresswoman claudia joing us. congresswoman, where are you on this? >> good morning, good morning. neil, i am from a district that voted substantially in 60% for trump and the number one issue for me, for all of these years has been repeal obamacare and replace it and we are trying to get to yes, unfortunately coming from new york we are dealing with a hostile resident in the second floor of the state capitol and that's none other than our governor, andrew cuomo. but truth be told, i've been a cosponsor for this legislation in state assembly, $167 million in mandate release to local governments and it is a dream come true and i'm pushing hard

for this amendment and i hope it goes through. the bill is not perfect. there's a lot of things that we have in new york that's not ideal in dealing with the situation like. this i don't get to vote perfect. i get to vote yes or no. neil: they are the ones that didn't like the change. given that aside, i would be curious that the measure the way donald trump has seen it it's not perfect but better than what we've got and a means to continue doing things that we want to do, do you buy that? >> yeah, actually i think that's true. i think this is being decried as our only shot ever and the health care has been going on since obama passed it throughout his years and it's going to go on for many years to come. it's a major entitlement and to protect taxpayers and the middle class and small business owners

that have suffered under this type of centrally-planned health care idea. neil: what do you think of your colleagues, congresswoman, some of your colleagues have been the first to say, this is very heavy federal government, big government, maybe a lighter version of obama, 2.0 version, you heard all of that. it goes a long way. it doesn't go a long way enough to -- to eradicate those issues that there's still subsidies, credits in there and big government and expanded roll of medicaid that all the stuff that they really just hate, what do you think? >> yes, well, i hate so say that i agree with them but i also think coming from one of the largest expansion states, largest expansion state in new york has the second highest per capita rate, we are going to get per capita rate in new york, so we are not doing anything no incentivize the governor to spend less. what we are trying to do is put

your fiscal house in order, stop passing bills in the state legislature and using an unconstitutional flush fund, money that he's using when he can help local taxpayers. we also have health care in new york so many rules and regulation that is we will have to work around on a national level that we have got to have our colleagues in the house help us with and also colleagues in the state senate and the state assembly and the governor to make sure that we provide for a healthcare dynamic market and our medicaid is so expensive that it's almost like a sing-payer -- single-payer now. thank you. neil: he went from a no vote to a hell no. congressman, great to see you.

>> great to be here, neil. it gives more erratic and i say i hope it lands in the sea and sinks. this bill is not written and we are supposed on it tonight. that's why i'm a hell no. neil: i don't know what this means, the freedom caucus members that met atthe white house, they didn't speak to reporters afterwards. i don't know what that means, our chad was reporting that something is up, maybe a lot of them are changing their minds, what do you think? >> well, i have some friends in the freedom caucus and i heard they had a good meeting but there's no deal, so take that for what you will. neil: what do you mean no deal, those against weren't persuaded to be for? >> that's correct.

u know, the's no bill beg written. we have to have something in your hands to consider it and vote on it and what is almost certainly if there were a deal there still wouldn't be a cbo report for it. neil: has the president try today persuade you? >> the president has not try today persuade me. maybe he's going after the no's and the lean no's before he goes to the hell no's. neil: a whole different category. one of the things he said on capitol hill, look, guys, we all go down here, you know, you're going to lose the mid-terms next year, house and senate and the whole agenda is screwed, paraphrasing here but i think i got the jest of it? >> i got 275 calls from office against it and 4 for it. neil: really? >> that's correct. the dangerous in passing this

and the real dearnlg comes in two or three years when the provision starts to kick in and insurance rates starting to through the roof and there's going to be tough for trump or anybody to get reelected if we pass this bill. neil: if it goes down inflames and doesn't give you the vote on or voted down today, we are hearing from chad that i mentioned earlier, sir, that no deal has been made by that one can surmise not enough votes per switch today change that outcome. i could be wrong or chad could be wrong. then what, what do republicans do tomorrow? >> there are a lot of ways to move on from here. for instance, the problem that the house freedom caucus and i have with this bill are really about the insurance mandates, about the ten essential health coverages and then also the preexisting conditions. if you take away the individual mandate and keep all of that stuff in the insurance program, prices are going to skyrocketed,

if you separate that had part of this, the obamacare, what's known as obamacare and focus on medicaid, rolling back the expansion, i think we actually have 216 votes. neil: really? >> yeah, i think there's 216 votes on the medicaid part. why not take several bites at this apple -- instead of trying to swallow the apple all at once. neil: we are told he would push it regardless there are votes or not. if he fails, would you be looking for a new speaker? >> well, i'm the only member of the republican conference that didn't vote for speaker ryan so that wouldn't be earth chattering. neil: friends left and right, congressman. >> i didn't come to washington to make friends. neil: i'm kidding. >> to save the country. if this goes to the floor, this is what you should watch for neil, watch the c-span ticker,

the yea's and nay's. neil: we will be covering that. >> once it's obvious the people going to fail, watch all the people to switch their vote, they will switch from yea to nay because this is the trade vote that the democrats took many a few years ago that cost a lot of them their seats, why take this vote, why fall on the sword and get nothing done legislatively. that's the decision a lot of the congressmen are going to make and they will leave the yea column and go to nay column when this thing starts to fail. neil: congressman, a pleasure. >> thank you, neil. neil: stock market gains are cut in half. is there any relationship between the two? any connection between the two? i have no idea. but that is is the deal

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live-streat the airport.e sport binge dvr'd shows while painting your toes. on demand laughs during long bubble baths. tv everywhere is awesome. the all-new xfinity stream app. xfinity. the future of awesome. neil: all right, i'm hearing from our chad, capitol hill producer that the freedom caucus that just met with the president, you could see them sort of, you know, heading out of there and skipping the opportunity to speak before microphones, that they were and

no deal had been reached. you do you really want to explain how you reverse position. others are looking at this as a sign that they genuinely have no deal and we are reading too much policy intrigue into this and the markets have reonor gains since it came to light. i don't like to overread into this but it's the only new development certainly nothing earnings wide has come out or inflection in the bonds market or change in any commodities come out to justify what seems to be a shift in sentiment here. but i'm just passing this along for what it's worth from our chad, no deal yet. now, he also indicate that had we are going to get a vote on this one way or another, that they won't put this off or

shelve it if the vote look like it's there. there could be a couple of absences to consider. so you wouldn't need the 216 votes, you might need as few as 212, 213. that could work in the president's favor and the republican's leadership favor that you don't need to wrestle as many to get your way, what do you think? >> that's right. we were calling some democrats whether they were going to be at this vote and as chad was talking, bobby rush's wife passed away, i don't think it's a definite that he won't show up. he's the only person that defeated president obama in a primary in house primary. neil: you're right about that. i forgot about that. >> now that he can come back in a dramatic way to save obamacare -- we are not sure on the democratic side. we expect all republicans to vote. as chad was saying, our white

house guy was just talking to freedocaucus members, no deal, sohis a real problem, they have to flip about at least 8 to 10 votes right now. on our sight, 30 no's. neil: 22 no's and this thing goes down. >> i think they're in real trouble. i think there's a real chance, neil, that they're not going to vote today. i don't think they are going to bring this to the floor without the votes. i think maybe they need fatigue as a factor. you bring it into tomorrow. you bring it into the weekend and the members get restless and they get to yes but they have to pass this bill or else it's such a stunning defeat for the president as well as paul ryan. neil: i wonder where republicans go from here and maybe we build up too much, presidents has overcome shaky beginnings, i think of bill clinton, not wonderful starts to their administration.

go back to ronald reagan who for a while was looking like a one-term when the economy wasn't cooperating. in this case it's different because the president has so many pieces of legislation he wants to push through, right? >> that's right. he's got to get this first one over the top otherwise it affects -- neil: some of the freedom caucus members are talking to reporters now. listen in. >> any concession? >> did who make any concession? >> either side. >> this is was an informational meeting. what's the lay of the land and, we are going to come back and discuss it but it was friendly and cordial meeting, we get along great. [inaudle] >> i don't understandhat. >> health benefits, does that go far enough? >> we will talk about it in the caucus. >> is there a deal? >> we will talk about nit the caucus. >> that's what some members we wanted to hear from the white house. >> look, we are going talk about it in the caucus.

it was a friendly-informational meeting. i think it went better than anyone would have expected. [inaudible] >> do you feel like -- >> look, we've been told three weeks ago take it or leave it so this is not a new -- that would not be a revelation that that's what's being proposed. >> what more do you want out of the white house? >> that's what we are going to have to discuss, i guess. neil: all right. still a working progress it sounds, bob. what i admired about the congressman, he wouldn't look at the person asking the question. i simply admire that. [laughter] neil: with the caucus meeting back at the hill that they are regrouping here that something is prompting the regrouping. >> yeah, they have to assess what they were offered. this has to be a win-win.

this has to be a win for president trump if it wins, it will be a big win for president trump and paul ryan and also has to be a win for the freedom caucus and will look like they caved and the outside conservative groups could attack the freedom caucus. this is a lot of intreg drama and that's why it's going to take a little more time because they can't have the vote in the middle of the night. the optics of that would be terrible, they did that with the prescription drug bill. neil: we don't want to do because we would need to be covering and i need my sleep. [laughter] >> the risk that you win over is the group that you thought you had won over, moderates. hey, conservatives they are happy with this, we shouldn't be. >> yeah, well, the moderates are fleeing this bill and they don't like the fact that the freedom caucus is getting the taxi with the white house and the concessions are moving this bill more to the right which could make a congressional budget office new score even worst according to the moderates.

so this is a problem but there are more conservatives in the house than moderates. they know that they have the get the freedom caucus guys on board and that's music to the freedom caucus because now they are at the table. they were told earlier binary choice, take it or leave it, now they are getting concessions and that's upsetting the centrist in the house. neil: real quick talking about the markets, they seem to be going tick for tick on what's happening here. if this fails and in one way, shape or form, the markets could be the most punishing device of all, right? >> absolutely. that's why they can't vote on this bill if they don't know if they have the votes while the markets are open. they have to wait till the markets are closed. if this goes down, that affects his whole agenda and this boom that we've been having -- neil: it would delay the agenda, wouldn't it or no? i think iwould delay it ceainly and is alscan this

get done. tax reform hasn't been done since '86. neil: it's interesting that you assumed i was that old but i will let it go. this guy, charlie gasparino, thanks for coming back and looking at the markets here, to your point and his point, the markets will be punishing if something goes bad, right? >> right. on the no comment which i guess traders took as being bad, you saw the dive in the dow. here is a thing they don't know and i think the only way you know is if you're directly in the freedom caucus or directly in mark meadows' brain. he is getting concessions, obviously. neil: concession that is will tick off moderates. charlie: the calculus they need

these guys more. neil: let's listen. [inaudible] >> this bill or nothing, take it or leave it, how does that make you feel? >> will there be a vote today, yes or no? >> we are all trying to get yes, but in order to get yes they have to get the cost curve down. that's as simple as it is. >> are they there? >> i don't know yet. don't know. >> congressman. neil: charlie gasparino he's one of the super-uber conservatives. now i'm wondering if he's hinting there that there is room for a deal.

>> he's the guy that took out eric canter, minorityleader, i'm sorry. you know, yes, again what we don't know if it's based on pure negotiating play or against it. i'm hearing two versions of this. mark meadows, the congressman that's ahead of the freedom caucus, from what i hear he's a solid no vote as from now. i'm getting that from people close to him. nothing changed out of that meeting. does that mean it never changes? these guys are politicians, it has to change. neil: they are speaking like that. another caucus member, his read on things. >> there were no new concessions so we read some stuff in the media, nothing really new has come out of it. >> as far as it goes health benefits, dropping that, would that be enough doing that? >> that would make the bill worse. >> what other parts do you want

changed? >> you need to look at rating and other aspects of the insurance mandates so you can't just change one part. they all interact. >> what are the chances of a vote tonight? do you think you'll ultimately be able to get this done? >> we always try to get the yes -- bore no yes. >> i think it would be a mistake to move forward today. it would be a mistake. >> to be clear, are you guys given a specific offer and said to review or -- >> there's nothing new. some of you have reported about repeal but our position has never been in repeal by itself, that is a mistake and would make it worse. we haven't asked for changes to all, we have been very specific about some of the sections we think -- we've been very specific about some of the

sections to try to bring down if you change esb without ratings, it would make the exchange worse. >> did the president say no to that part of title one? >> nothing new came out of it, so -- >> what is your response in. >> they're not going to pass the bill. >> you don't think there's a vote in. >> so there is an offer? >> an offer? >> well, the final offer. >> it's only the same thing that you were discussing in the media yesterday. >> that's it? >> that's a nonstarter. >> you don't think there's a vote tonight? >> i don't think there can be a vote tonight because they don't have the votes. if they vote, it's going to fail. that's all we heard. it's the same thing many of you have been reported.

>> thank you. >> thank you. neil: publican member, i don't think it'll ood idea to have a vote tonight. if it were, it would fail. as he was saying that, the gains went to 45 to 16, 18 points. what's going on here? charlie: again, i don't know if it's real, they hate this thing and they are squeezing out a few more concessions. neil: the caucus itself like the reagan years during the time that ronald reagan was winning them over. there were some who broke off. charlie: yeah, we will have to see. it looks like it ain't happening tonight. neil: mark meadows, big guns now talking. >> i would hope that we would continue to negotiate and hopefully get there.

[inaudible] >> has there been discussion beyond that? >> the the discussion has always been beyond that, without getting into the details of the discussion or negotiations, but, you know, this hasn't been a single focus on essential health benefits for any of us, obviously, we come from six requests down to two but you might even modify that it's one and a half because -- it has to do all with the obamacare mandates, the obamacare rules and we are trying to move from phase two into phase one. we are not adding anything other than we are taking what was supposed to have been been in phase two and bringing it into phase one. >> chairman, that this meeting was due or die, that this all comes down to you. >> obviously, he's the speaker of the house and he know it is conference better than anybody. we are certainly trying to get

to yes, but, indeed, we have made very reasonable requests and we are hopeful that those reasonable requests would be listened to and ultimately agreed to. i have to run, guys, i have a meeting. >> can you give us a sense of where your -- >> i'm going in right now to make sure that we have that. i don't want anybody to get hurt here. all right, thank you. [inaudible] >> i think that we have a whole lot of other issues to discuss and at this point, i don't know that any decision has been made on what will or will not -- we have discontinued some options, we are trying to get creative and making sure that the options are acceptable to the administration. it's ultimately the president that's going to decide yes or nos on what happens.

i've got to run. there are not enough votes as of 1:30 today. >> expect to go delay it? >> i'm expecting that we are going to negotiate in good faith. i hope to get yes after 7:30 tonight. the promises i've made by the president is he's all about keeping his promises to the american people and he doesn't want to have anything legislatively stand in the way of it. no plans to go back to the white house. listen -- [inaudible] >> i can tell you that i happen to be the chairman of the freedom caucus but i'm not their conscious nor do i represent their district. we've got 40 plus or minus members that make up their own minds and how they can best serve their constituents. >> if the leadership announces a

vote, you think it's going to fail today? >> i am very hopeful, i'm very hopeful, guys that we can finda way to yes and the speaker i talked to him earlier today, acknowledged some of the concerns that he has and so with my more moderate members, i'm trying to work with that. i have to go. i really do. i'm not trying to leave you, i have to go. [inaudible] neil: all right. that's the big gun in the freedom caucus mark meadows, extensively the guy that runs the 30-plus member strong conservative republican plank, those who are against excessive spending and certainly against obamacare. of the four caucus members we did hear from, from the state of michigan said a vote would be a bad idea. right now it would probably not pass as things stand right now.

there are not enough no votes but there's still enough time to get a yes vote here. i'm trying to get to the jest of this. they do not ve a deal. bottom line, they do not have a deal. every time the congressman mentions they don't have a deal or looks problematic or might be a good idea to hold off a vote tonight, stocks turn down, then they turned up when you hear someone like meadows say, well, there's a possibility that things could be worked out by tonight. always in the eye of the beholder here. jeri, this is a battle for every single vote here and it is really going down to the wire? >> it is. what i thought was interesting what meadows said, i'm not their conscious, i'm not their voters. so you had said earlier that there was splitting in this caucus and i think that's actually what's going on, not

everybody agrees what needs to be done. we have try today track what do the conservatives want and the real answer is they want a bunch of different things possibly and making all of them happen, having them all sign on the dotted line is going to be super hard and that's what had been talked about earlier today. we have 5 and a half hours till 7:00 o'clock, that's when meadows said will be vote. neil: that's something that a caucus recommending, they are going to hold the vote we are told one way or the other. i'm not sure that's a great strategy, what do you make of that? charlie: a lot of the congressmen are trying to figure out what is this bill that we are voting for ultimately going to look like, what is it going to look like when it hit it is

senate because there's a degree of horse-trading that has to go on there. there's a lot of different things. it's not just what the president and paul ryan is promising now. what did they sign their name to and what it's going to look in terms of the senate when the senate gets through. that's a big question and has a lot of the guys scare. neil: thank you very much. one more congressman came out. i thought the mail guy was going to come out and people mistaked that person for the congressman. the fact of the matter, no deal. still a vote, sometime tonight, no one sure. more to this guys, what's happening here? hey nicole, this is my new alert system for whenever anything happens in the market. kid's a natural. but thinkorswim already lets you create custom alerts for all the things that are important to you. shhh. alerts on anything at all? not only that, you can act on that opportunity with just one tap right from the alert. wow, i guess we don't need the kid anymore. custom alerts on thinkorswim. only at td ameritrade.

dearthere's no other way to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced, our senses awake, our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say: if you love something... set it free. see you around, giulia ♪

neil: sean spicer talking about the caucus pow-wow with the president. >> he was on the phone last night well into the 11:00 o'clock hour with members on an individual basis discussing their support for the bill. the amendments that have been incorporated add important

aspects to the bill like removing costly essential health benefit insurance regulations, repealing obamacare taxes immediately starting in 2017, reforming medicaid by allowing states to accept funding and blocking states from receiving enhanced federal medical assistant percentage ifs they expanded during the transition. we've already seen the results with many members coming out and saying they are going to be a yes tonight. as i have noted before, today is actually the seventh and we hope the la anniversary that president obama signed obamacare. the president is looking forward to see republicans fill the pledge tonight that they have been make to go constituents for years, that with a republican in the white house and with them in congress would once and for all see the end of obamacare. i assume that president obama must be feeling the time is up for his signature law since today he came out in rather lengthy statement about it but he can't change the facts about where it stands.

president obama stated that americans received a, quote, upgrade in insurance but the mandates obamacare placed forced millions away from doctor which broke the promise that they were given. president obama attempt today move the post on cost down playing skyrocketing premiums some 100% in some places and unaffordable dedullt -- deductibles. president obama said obamacare isn't death spiral but enrollment is nowhere near expectations and this year is declining, insurers are fleeing fleeing the exchange in one and three counties and america only has one insurer. president obama may not believe that obamacare is a job-killer but the new law including job killing taxes and mandates speak for themselves.

and, of course, it's not just a big day on the house side, over on the senate will be on the final and fourth day of judge gorsuch's senate judiciary hearings. earlier today democratic leader chuck schumer announced that senate democrats will be having filibuster of nomination. from day one we said that the president made an inspired choice with nomination of gorsuch. the american bar association is giving them the highest rating of well qualified. this week through all four days he has showcased credentials. it breaks with the tradition of how the senate has handle supreme court confirmation votes in modern time and represents the type of partisanship the americans are growing tired of n. the last half century only three supreme court judges have ever faced the filibuster, the most recent justice alito was opposed by then senator obama who vote today uphold filibuster and admit that had the vote was

a politically motivated act and he regret it. senate republicans didn't filibuster his freedom court nominee kegan and sotomayor, we called on senator schumer to abandon from blocking gorsuch from receiving a fair up or down vote that he and the american people have voted for. back to the president's schedule. this afternoon the president will meet with members to have tuesday group, he had lunch with secretary -- of the treasury mnuchin and nelson at 3:00 o'clock today we hope that you will come out and join the president to welcome the truck drivers and truck company ceo's who will be meeng -- on t american healthcare act as they arrive two large big rigs. it's the backbone of our domestic freight transportation and moves over 70% of freight tonnage but the trucking industry has suffered under obamacare.

many truckers were forced to buy insurance like millions of americans across the country they saw premiums rise and coverage plummet. the health care reform will lower premiums and increase choice by increasing competition . also today the vice president met with president hernández of honduras, a read on the meeting is available from the vice president's office and a few notes before i get to your questions. as the president noted during his first cabinet meeting earlier this month, while many of the similarly qualified departments, taking action to fulfill the president's ambitious agenda, there's still

important position that is have not been filled in large part of senate democrats obstruction. i want to give you a quick update on the outstanding con mirror maición. secretarof labor acosta, successful hearing yesterday and we expect mark up next week. secretary of governor perdue is currently appearing before the senate ag committee. prime minister of denmark will be visiting the white house on march 30th. we will have further details on the visit in the upcoming days. tomorrow the president will host medal of honor recipients in celebration of medal of honor day which falls on saturday of this year. we will have more details on that event coming forward. the president intends to be here this weekend so as we have updates on the president's weekend plans, we will let you know as well.

i also know coming up on a deadline related to the keystone pipeline, we will have an update on that for you tomorrow. finally, i'm proud to announce that in april 19th, the anniversary of battles of le lexington, the new england patriots will visit to celebrate and there probably be more wins. is that a patriots' question? >> i have a health care question for you. do you expect there to be a vote tonight? >> that's what i understand the house has scheduled, yes. >> any chance that it would be pushed back? >> that would be up to speaker ryan and leader mccarthy but nothing leads me to believe that that's theas >> is the president concerned at all if he draws support for the bill from the freedom caucus that you may lose support from

more moderates in the house? >> he's meeting with members of the tuesday group today. obviously this is something that he understands there's a little bit of a balancing act as you try to get 216 in this case. we continue to make progress every day. we walked out with more members in support of the american healthcare act today than we started the day with and i start to see the number climb hour by however and i will anticipate that we will get there, blake. blake: can accept it or reject it, is that the way that you see it at this moment or you're waiting -- [inaudible] >> i think there are some members who in the meeting stood up and told the president i'm with you now and i think member by member that's how they are going to vote. i think we've continue today see that number rise and the same thing with the tuesday group. there are members that had not

been with us that are expressing their willing to be part of this. the president went over several commitments and changes that have been made that have continued to evolve and, i think, that we continue to see the number rise but i think that we continue to see the number go up and not down and that's a very posive sign. >> do you know how many came across and what it is that brought them across? >> it depends. i don't think there's any singular issue in a lot of cases. there's a lot, i think, we talked a little bit about sections of the bill that they -- that there was an issue with, you know, and so i think there's a couple of areas that there are some common ground on but over 30 members today and some of them had specific aspects that they wanted to see improved and some of them frankly come -- frankly came to say, thank you. what you guys have done already has been an improvement.

>> is that their main sticking point? >> in a lot of points that was their number one thick. it wasn't universal across the board but, again, i think some of the measures that have been taken along the way have really -- again, there's also beyond that, there's a a lot of discussion of phase two and phase three and they are committed to continuing working and improving and making commitments on the totality and the comprehensive nature of how we are going to do this. for a lot of these guys, it comes to premium increases. they are concerned what they're seeing their constituents face. director mulvaney, reince priebus, chief of staff, we are all continuing to talk about certain measures put in place to drive down costs. i think what you realize what we've continued to talk about that costs are too high,

premiums are spiking and these are real concerns for, you know, constituents of these members and i think that as they say an overall and total commitment of this it's making them feel a lot better not just this bill but phases two and three. matt. >> is the president open to removing protections for preexisting conditions from the bill? >> i think that's been something that he's been clear needs to stay in there. >> okay, secondly, about this essential benefits protection, obviously among those is maternity leave. he would removing that jive with the president's promise expand maternity leave? obviously this would take it out and insurers would no longer have to provide that. >> i don't want to get into a benefit by benefit discussion here. i just said to blake that part of the reason that premiums have spiked out of control is because under obamacare there were these

mandated services that had to be included and what happened was is that, you know, older men, older women who had gone past maternity anal were buying benefits that weren't necessary for them. people at the younger age at younger age scale were buying life benefits. we have now gone to a system where in one-third of all counties there's one choice. thers the poupurii, we lost consumer choice and people are paying for benefits at the end of the day, their spouse, their family needs which is driving up costs for everybody and so part of it isn't about benefit, it's about a series of benefits being mandated for everybody and so what has happened is the cost of health care for every individual has gone up and the choice has gone down. i think there's a philosophical discussion going on about what

we can to make sure that people have actual coverage, something that was talked about before, but doing so in a way that doesn't drive up costs for everyone. >> is the president concerned that without having those essential benefits you will have a situation where women are paying higher for health insurance, obviously, they would be paying for maternity leave? >> no, you can have a family plan. the point -- it's not you're picking one benefit and trying to extrapolate it. the idea is to instill choice back into the market, so it's not just about one particular benefit, it's allowing people to tailor a plan, it's not just about one particular benefit, figuring out what are the cost drivers and how do we give people the choice that they need. sarah. >> the white house and house

leadership defended the way this bill was written. [inaudible] >> so what's changed to put now the policy changes on the table what's given the white house and the republicans' confidence that now it can survi t sam process in the senate? >> there's a lot of discussion without geing tointo i the issue at hand is the rule, you can't have policy making that don't have a budgetary impact. there are certain things that are being phrased in certain ways and crafted in accord anticipates with -- accordance with the rule. there's a lot of smart people familiar with the rules and are trying to do things in the way to make this bill conform in those ways. zeek. >> two questions for you. one in the health care bill for you. question is way the bill is now being modified to pick up

votes -- [inaudible] >> is the president concerned that this looks a lot like what obamacare looked like seven years that the republican spent seven years criticizing and here they are seven years later on the same day doing the exact same thing? >> no, not at all. it's actually -- the two goals that it set out to do is doing drive-throughsing costs down, finding ways to lower premiums and keeping options to fit budgets and doing things that instill competition, choice. so the things that are being done actually achieve the goals that have been set forth. jim. >> different question.

yesterday secretary -- [inaudible] >> have a public debate. is that something -- traditional those are started from the executive branch, is the white house willg put one forward and to begin round of discussions? >> i refer you back to secretary mattis. that's one that the department of defense -- [inaudible] >> in the battle with respect to isis. and the current roles that we have to combat them. but, i think, that was a discussion about whether or not we should have a discussion on authorized use of force or not and how to have that, jim. >> i know that chuck schumer announced a definite filibuster of judge neil gorsuch, do you

think it's time for the white house to take a stand on eliminating filibuster for supreme court nominees? >> i am not going to -- i will let senator mcconnell, a much more apt user and understanding of the senate rules. i am not going to start to tell senator mcconnell what to do from here. >> he's your nominee. >> i understand that, it's his rules and his chamber. john. >> sean, thank you. has anybody from the national security team or the homeland security folks been in touch with couldn't parts in london in the last 24 hours or so? >> yes. >> can you expand on that at all or not? >> only to the extent to say that they've been in touch to evaluate, offer assistance and, again, i'm not going to get into classified discussion about what -- [inaudible]

>> yes. >> thanks, sean. chairman nunes today refused to rule out that he received the information he announced yesterday on surveillance that he got that from the white house. so will you rule out that the white house or anyone in the administration gave chairman nunes that information? >> i don't know what he actually briefed the president on but i don't know why he would come to brief the president on something that we gave him. >> that's why it was confusing. >> i don't know if that makes sense. i did not sit on the briefing. i'm not -- it doesn't -- so i don't know whyhe would travel, brief the speaker and come down to brief on something that we would have briefed him on. that doesn't really seem to make a ton of sense. i wasn't aware of it but i don't think it passes the smell taste.

and number of members who have expressed their support for it. we'll continue that discussion with the tuesday group. but, we, the numbers is growing, the number of memberswho shared concerns. i think that we have been very responsive as well as speaker ryan to the concerns and ideas that members have expressed from across the spectrum. >> reporter: you said that there is, there is only plan a. >> right. reporter: at this point is there acknowledgement there does need to be plan b? >> no. plan a. report