president has said you don't make it happen, bad on you. and he's putting the burden on them. stuart: what happens to speaker ryan? >> i think he stays. >> yeah. stuart: yeah, well, the president says he stays. our time is up, but it's been a wonderful day. action-packed. but, neil, sir, it's yours. neil: say it's been a wonderful day but not for your guests. [laughter] why are you browbeating them? stuart: i've been abused for three hours, i have to say. it's all yours now. neil: all right, all right. good stuff, as always, my friend. all right, as stuart indicated here, we have, you know, health care is what this is all about. can republicans get over the finish line, and by the way, as stuart indicated, it is not an easy haul here. as gerri willis indicated as well, even with the lower numbers because a few congressmen and women will not be there, so you might need only 213, 214 votes, to get this thing the approved. but that's no short bet.

you've heard of this conundrum as we wait on this measure to see what they can do, but every concession the freedom caucus, for example, this conservative group of 35-40 congressmen who almost to a man and woman were who almost to a man and woman are not big fans of this was whatever confession is made to that group, moderate republicans get kicked off and we deal with our kids. you let him stay up late, but not me and the tug-of-war continues. here is the thing, the reason the markets are watching closely, they reached a deflection point where they don't really care. they seem to buy the indication from the president, vote on this thing and be done with it. they move on to tax cuts. a slamdunk, they could automatically do that, the whole reconciliation process, don't

want to get too lost in the weeds because it is really dull but suffice it to say the market seemed to think one way or another they will get tax cuts and one way or another going to be able to see that happen sooner rather than later and there is even talk those tax cuts would be retroactive to the beginning of the year. what they seem to be ignoring has been pointed out, a lot have snuck taxes back into the health care law or rework including the 9/10 of 1% surtax on the wealthy and that is not going down well with conservatives, the very group, republican leaders are trying to target to make sure they are happy with this and not happy with that. getting everyone else kicked off, blake berman at the white house and what he is hearing. >> this is a yo-yo back and

forth, appease one group, another has concerns and it goes back and forth. the senior administration official when i walked into the white house and asked how they think this will play out. this could be touch and go. the house floor, official debate is underway. this has all the attention of the white house this day the vice president, mike pence has delayed a trip and said he is here at the white house monitoring what is going on, any last-minute tools, the president appearing to feel confident as this vote appears, he tweeted from his twitter account thank you, more conservative -- seat dish tea party express, hashtag pass the bill repealing replace, also asked about this briefly

and made some short comments. >> thank you. thank you. thank you. see what happens. thank you. >> reporter: basically saying we will see what happens in upcoming hours. he was also asked if he supports paul ryan, house speaker, should this failing and president trump said yes. as far as the number of counts, nobody knows where it stands. several members of the house freedom caucus, there are no votes, louis gohmert said on stuart varney's show there could be as many as tween 9 nos. >> there will be at least five that could be tween 9 and could

be more that vote no and i am told as of last night 17 moderates are no. some may flip and vote yes, but i know the president will be unhappy now but this is going to bring him down if it passes. >> reporter: this much we know, the democrats should be all know. how many conservative freedom caucus members are nos q how many moderates might be nos kick you add up those nos it doesn't get 211 or 213? that is the sweet spot this administration is hoping to clear. neil: it improved with whatever numbers to the democrats -- it does lower the threshold you have to get to get this to move on in the senate. >> 435 members of the house at any given time, and cut that in

half and lower the threshold a little bit, bottom line, they have to get to that threshold. neil: that is just to get through the first hurdle. meantime we go to the freedom caucus, republican state of texas, get a gauge where he stands. gay or nay on this? >> i used to be from texas but i represent the phoenix area now. neil: i apologize. >> they are both magnificent states. neil: how do you stand on this kick you >> i am not undecided on this but i'm not declaring publicly for strategic reasons of being able to continue to influence this in the best direction possible but i will tell you the great untold story is simply this. it wouldn't be hard at all the republicans to come up with a consensus bill that would fully

repeal obama care and replace it with a truly republican version based on market that would give us the best healthcare for the most people for the least cost. neil: apparently it would because you haven't done it. >> the challenge is we can't get it through the bird rule and people like you should be telling that story. warner: the that being what you can do or not do under reconciliation. >> the alternative is to get the thing to the floor for debate in the senate and to take 60 votes to do that. unless we can repeal the laws of mathematics, eight democrats come with us which is harder than repealing the laws of mathematics, we have to change that rule and be able to get the bill to the floor. you can have cloture or something like that but unless we can get it to the floor, to cause republicans to tear each other apart, is do-nothing and that is too easy. neil: machinery has to go through procedure and that is

causing this. >> we had plenty of republican versions and came up with this the day obamacare was here, i lost my voice trying to stop it. we had a republican motion to recommit that would have been an excellent alternative to obamacare. the media didn't cover that, we had several bills, republican versions many of which i cited, the media didn't cover that. the challenge before us is everyone things republicans don't have an alternative or plan, we do, we just can't fit it through. neil: you are quite right. working under the proviso, if you had to handicap this vote later today, whatever, how do you think it will go to q >> i will preface by saying there are three times the people who try to do that. those who don't know, those who don't know they don't know and those who do know they don't know. i fall in the final category but i would say probably the momentum is toward passage.

neil: really kick you are there concessions being made to conservative caucus members that will kickoff the moderate members? what are you hearing to q >> those two factions are actually talking to each other and i that is an important concern. that may mean nothing. it often does but i am a hopeful guy. neil: are you hopeful they can remove the 9/10 of 1% surtax on the wealthy that has stayed in this? >> i would like to see that go away but the biggest challenge is getting rid of some of these obamacare era mandates that essentially ameliorate competition and market and markets are the only place there's immigration and when you have an immigration like this with completely infinite need to be met with a finite resource we have to have innovation to make that come out right.

neil: thank you very much. i am sorry for misidentifying your state. thank you, sir. the next step presumably would be tax reform if they cannot get together on this, waiting for nevers to come out with a meeting from president trump as we speak. on this particular issue here is what the house ways and means chief, kevin brady, told me earlier this week. if it doesn't happen on thursday, can you -- we will fight this battle another day and move on to taxes or no? >> it is critical that this past because of tax cut and the momentum and it will show we can unify behind bold ideas. neil: the congressman, chairman of the committee joining again at 4:00 p.m. eastern on fox news. peter barnes, the president can even do that without making such

progress, to the tax-cut thing, i get different reads on this. >> senior house leadership aid is trying to get a push by saying bill helps make tax reform easier, the next big ticket item because obamacare repeal. as i do my math the head, the original bill eliminated $1 trillion in taxes, 1 billion over ten years, then they kept 1%, 9% medicare tax to fund $15 billion a year in maternity care and substance abuse to give money to the states, something moderates had demanded but you still get a significant amount of tax cuts by repealing

obamacare. if this doesn't pass, is it still going to be in appetite for tax reform? everybody want to have lower taxes so i am not sure the failure of this holds up tax reform because the president made it clear that if this bill fails today he is moving on to tax reform which will take many months. neil: he is and i will be done with this and don't want to go on about this but what is the reaction he is getting behind the scenes from republicans who feel he forced them into a corner? >> high-stakes gamble, a roll of the dice, saying the negotiations are over and forcing this vote is risky and as you said at the top of the show, not 100% clear they have the votes to pass it, we are waiting to see. neil: peter barnes in

washington. first off since you are an encyclopedia on this stuff, if i can screw up my language, can they move on? republicans, if they don't succeed on this healthcare funds, dismiss it and save it for another day were dismissible go with obamacare, what do you think? >> one from the policy standpoint and one from the political standpoint. from the policy standpoint the reason they want to get obamacare done through that reconciliation budgeting process is it helps with the tax component, and not to get 60 votes in the senate eventually. they were intending to have this done first so they could pass it with just republican votes and not worry about democrats.

and the political question comes up, if you can't get republicans united against healthcare policy how do you get related around tax reform policy get you there is large support for tax reform but when you get to the details there are still divides. we have seen that on health care and we will see it on tax reform. and ryan and trump if they moved to tax form, how they look on selling this. and the healthcare framework with the support of the president but didn't do it together in unison. do they do that on tax reform, is there a different outcome, remains to be seen but from policy perspective it was important to do obamacare first, then move on to tax reform. neil: x keep an eye on the

markets. us treasury yields are following, below today on session which tells me the bond market facing head winds to pick up economic activity which presumably getting rid of taxes, most of them anyway. it is my opinion, wouldn't put much stock in it. it is not looking good. potential for the economy, via health care repeal replace effort. and the tax cut that you talked about each >> it depends what you are

responding to. the president campaigned on big and bold agenda but negotiating dealmaking, or key tests of the relationship to get things done. the way the president has been framing this in political terms, vote for this, can't do what we need to do. and rip -- the promise to do this, and the president promised tax reform on the other side by getting this done. we think about how the president will be interpreted. he has low approval ratings but if he is able to get these deals through, that could help that.

this is just the house we are talking about it just on obamacare. it hasn't faced the senate where there are starker divides because they represent bigger states and have all sorts of complications. neil: fewer people to work over. >> low margin for error. neil: the push is on both sides. and get these guys off the dime which a huge selloff gets these guys moving. that is what has happened in the past. take a trip back in time.

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i am thrilled to announce charter communications has just committed to investing $25 billion with a be, you are sure that is right kicked you $25 billion in the united states and committed further to hiring 20,000 american workers over the next four years. neil: that is an eye-popping number. this back-and-forth goes on forever about whether that was already cooked up and in the

works, a $5 billion factory to be expanded in arizona that will call for hiring thousands of workers but be that as it may it is a big deal when so many jobs are on the line. keeping track of that, it is 280,000 jobs in november on the part of some of the nation's premier. and john layfield at the stock exchange. i want to begin with how the markets are playing this healthcare soap opera playing out, it might go the president's way and republicans way, is that keeping the role here? >> there watching this, they are very in tune with this.

with that we watched the market and representative frank on your network right now, on with you saying the freedom caucus and moderates were talking, bringing optimistic ideas about the bill, they are circulating paul ryan across the white house so what is going on? they are getting jittery. they feel optimistic about president trump, and what happens to the tax cuts etc. etc.. neil: some of the folks in the market don't really care, i say to explain it this way, they like what president trump said, we will get to the tax cuts, great if this passes and we move on to the tax cuts, people -- congress can or can't ing's,

easier said than done. even if this goes up in flames. >> exactly right. there are two underpinnings in the market in the last six weeks, tax form, phenomenal tax plan, and nominal growth. they don't really care about the health care bill passing or not, and the holy grail of tax form pending so much hope on which neil: it is interesting when you look at the more the market look at this, and always in the eyes of the beholder. hearing about benefits scaled back. and they are washing their hands

of it. obamacare to fight a battle or another day, that becomes the winning deal. >> the president put a good spin on this, this is a devastating loss if obamacare repeal doesn't pass but the president has a great spin on this that this is it, you got your chance, he passed it to congress. if it happens or doesn't happen we are going straight to tax cuts which is what the market and americans want the market was flat for two years from 2015-16. only thing that changed was president trump was elected, tax cuts and regulation reform is a reason this market has gone up and the market wants to get the tax cuts. neil: it doesn't get either. one thing that happened is it hasn't had a temper tantrum like it did when that fell apart and

the market dropped 777 points and congress regrouped and we learned markets would still bleed for months to come. markets haven't had a tantrum like that was only way to get these guys off the stick, talking about congress is have a tantrum like that. >> we haven't had the volatility other than what that selloff of 800 points, we haven't had to fall back to the 1% pullback that we haven't seen since before the election. they still have the optimism. i was talking with one trader who said i got to tell you, my clients just want me to buy because i can't understand it. they are not hedging. they want me to buy. there is the worry if this

doesn't go through, tax cut to go through, if that doesn't go through, so the greatest jobs president, boosting the economy in so many ways and so many ideas. neil: what do you think? >> they are setting themselves up to be disappointed the next 50 points. the senate won't pass that. how much longer do they fight about it. think of the deficit hawks out there, unfunded tax plan. will that lock something like that? how about the unfunded tax better due to sunset in the next ten years. is that stimulative to the economy could you hard to say. last thing is if there is a material delay when it comes to individual tax reform and/or infrastructure spending, short-term doom for the market,

people are being too short-term disappointment. neil: your thoughts? >> it is a pullback, talking to anybody in the market, the president and administration could get caught up with obamacare and the repeal and not get to the tax. it is a partisan issue, that is what the market wants and needs. neil: we will watch closely, stocks dry down 9.5 points, the bond market is in session lows, that market which had a great week is saying we there is a slowdown, we don't think it will work out to protection.

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of what i saw except it was to trump and the transition team. >> that was devon nunez, fox news washington correspondent, this was something he had to take up with the president directly, many democrats claim the minority led on that but where did this stand? is it your sense this is going to escalate to do some are calling for nunez's head, where is this going to give >> he will not be stepping down anytime soon in the story will produce additional disclosure, this new evidence devon nunez touted and briefed the president on. members of the trump transition

team, the president-elect self, incidental and inappropriate surveillance. nunez and his investigators received their new evidence, and some turned over before the wiretaps, chairman drew attention to unnamed obama aides, us names appeared in this. and reporting overnight where he and his staff said, the paper trail has no other plausible purpose. >> there are reasons to unmask names, what i have seen i don't know what the reason will be. >> republican staff lawyers and

investigators, and the documents, the national security agency, nunez disclosed the production timetable will extend into the weekend perhaps next week. the years team believes the material, a smoking gun establishing that mister trump was spied on. and president trump claimed a measure of vindication alleging he was wiretapped, and reaffirming there was no wiretapping. >> the secretary of the army, pretty much all he wants to hear, the president could be right on this and the former president was actively involved in doing just that. where do they place this?

>> and their talking points, the democrat members regurgitating and mainstream media, one thing happened, new fact that devon nunez reported is troubling and the fact is james rosen did a great piece on foxnews.com, the national security agency is delivering boxes of information that not only backs up what devon nunez said but shows trump transition team and the president himself with this incidental surveillance, and the transition team, we won't know all the facts until next week but james said several sources are saying it is a smoking gun that actually decides the spying

on this president and his team. neil: there is a big difference between that and targeting donald trump self, targeting donald trump himself. am i missing something? >> the obama administration -- look at where this goes was we always had leaks, but not to this degree or magnitude, these are intelligence leaks. how about the leak on general flynn? two things the president could do right now to address this, it has been an effective tool for law enforcement. let's have cash rewards, cash rewards for honest people in the government who come forward with information that leads to the prosecution and conviction of those in our government who are disloyal and the king classified information and also the president has something for the

intelligence advisory board, president eisenhower started, president obama use it, appoint a strong chairman, people who know the intelligence and cannot be co-opted by federal bureaucrats and can think outside the box and give us intelligence reforms the intelligence community needs. neil: thank you, deputy assistant secretary of the army, served this country with great honor. healthcare fails the president says we move on. that might be easier said than done. just like the people

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[phhello.ng] hi, it's anne from edward jones. i'm glad i caught you. well i'm just leaving the office so for once i've got plenty of time. what's going on? so those financial regulations being talked about? they could affect your accounts, so let's get together and talk, and make sure everything's clear. thanks. yeah. that would be great. we've grown to over $900 billion in assets under care... by being proactive, not reactive. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. neil: here is the dow, time for a neil cavuto crackpot theory point that i want to raise with charlie gasparino and when he is dismissing it it tells you something because he tries to buy what i am saying very nicely but here is what i am saying.

the markets are providing cover for these bunions. because they are not freefalling, they figure everything is okay. there is political pressure, the president -- there is nothing like we had or president bush had with tarp and trying to get it through and it was rejected and the markets, the waning days of september of 2008, 777 points, markets stabilized only to continue the freefall. charles: president obama saved the markets. neil: my point is that is what these guys need. charles: maybe. it sounds like you are trying to move the markets again because he moved them yesterday. neil: if you don't see the markets panicking there is no

rush. charles: the simple reason, president trump came out and said they would do a left turn and move on to tax cuts. neil: easier said than done. charles: that is the real -- can they take the corporate tax rate down 15% or 20%, something more than marginally with its current level of 35 without fixing obamacare. neil: they said they can. charles: they cannot. when they say they can they cannot. neil: using this existing mechanism they were going to use for healthcare. charles: reconciliation. they can't use reconciliation, they need to get democrats to buy in because you need to prevent -- neil: democrats are more apt to support republicans in that effort.

charles: maybe infrastructure spending. wheeling and dealing and -- neil: republicans could be 0-2. that is your market tanking. i am trying to remind -- i am older than you so i have to bring you back in history. charles: two goals or three. you are trying for two. bringing markets down again. don't try to blame me. trump points to other people when he screws up. neil: you want me to slap you upside the large cute you why are the markets:cute you -- why the markets calm? charles: the market and regulatory reform, what you and i thought they should have done

upfront. get this thing done. neil: some are blaming this on paul ryan, the way to do things, that ticked off donald trump and we know enough about donald trump that he won't take the fall for this. he might point to the guys meeting with paul ryan and blame him. charles: even though trump gave him a voice of support a lot of people say people like steve bannon are working behind the scenes to lay the blame on him if he loses and push them up and get somebody else. neil: he would be the speaker through this congressional term. if you make it a hostile environment -- charles: if he has the freedom caucus demanding head and other people saying he can't lead, they got rid of john weiner. or bob michael. remember when newt gingrich

unseated him cute you he was other things. that is how they do it and i hear steve bannon a leading benefit. he sees a loss in healthcare is a way of getting rid of paul ryan who he despises, things he is establishment. if you look at breitbart, it speaks steve bannon's alter ego, they think he is establishment, globalist, this is a guy everybody thought two years ago was the most conservative guy in the world but they think he's one of these guys who will cut deals with democrats o'bannon would like to get rid of him. neil: rules are rules. there is a way to do things. charles: i don't know the answer to this. neil: you are trying to cause trouble. charles: we live on trouble. can they do a full on tax form. the markets have a lot of life

in them. neil: a big old selloff. charles: someone has to answer the question i just asked. you want to move the market three days in a row kick you i will call you jim cramer from now on. neil: we have more after this.

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neil: always a little palace intrigue when it concerns but the far right presidential candidate sent to wagging since it was taking place at the kremlin. p spokesman says russia is not trying to influence the french election but has every right to communicate with french politicians but i don't know what the french term is for curious. the republican congress, speaker ryan is meeting with the president, we might get a sense of where this stands but where do you stand with this kid you >> i met opponents which i will be voting no today. i don't think it lowers premiums.

democrats come to the table in this issue. they are responsible, they refused to do so. neil: vice president mike pence arriving at the capital, i don't know if the president or vice president has been trying to come to terms with you but what do you think of this full-court press cute you cute you >> i indicated to the leadership i am a no on this bill, we need medical malpractice insurance. neil: know way to get you to budge? i am not moving on this, do they just give up and say we will fight another day? >> leadership would prefer i be

on the other side but they respect my position as i respect their position. neil: they don't threaten you that your office will be the janitors closet? >> they do not. neil: can the president say what he said? this is it and we move on, it doesn't work, move on to tax cuts, can he do that did you? >> we require cooperation from the democrats to come to the table, they were those who voted for obamacare initially. neil: you have very genuine concerns with the cost, some

called it obama the care light, obama care 2.0. in the end a lot fewer people will have health insurance, much ado about what cute you but i can't imagine the president taking the fall if this happens but someone is. >> i think this town is too much consumed by who is up or down or who is right or left. i support speaker ryan. he is doing an excellent job in a difficult situation. neil: but it falls through. >> i do not inc. that. i think we move forward on tax reform as the president has indicated. neil: many argue the president and congress working more closely on this because his election was quite a surprise. but they didn't seem to have ducks in order here. >> we have been discussing this issue for some time and we

should put forth what i call phase 3. we should make it phase i. that would have to involve democratic counterparts. i think the public should realize democrats come to the table and this issue because we need to reform the session. neil: thank you for taking the time. democrats coming into this equation, maybe not right away. we are on that including the white house briefing.

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neil: all right. two development i want to pass along with you as we're waiting to hear from paul ryan. he is meeting in the white house now with the president. we're getting indications that louie gohmert, conservative republican congressman is out saying it is not looking good for a vote potentially right away today. that it may be postponed. again, indicating that there might be more than expected no votes from the freedom caucus, that conservative group of congressman and women. is beingly, the, u.s. appropriations chairman of new jersey is announced his opposition to this health care bill. that he he is part of that establishment, so-called moderate republicans. so if he doesn't like it and there is still a good number of conservative republicans that

doesn't look good. whether that would postpone the bill vote today, to another day or just shelf it entirely, republicans lick their wounds and start over again. do as the president indicated, tax cuts and work on that, it's way too recall to tell but gerri willis, following all of these developments right now as we wait to hear from sean spicer in a press briefing. lot's going on, gerri, what are you hearing? >> a lot going on. tighter than a tick. you start to hear from people will be no votes. we don't really know how this will go down. to be sure chad pergram telling us the fact that paul ryan is in with the president could signal they know they're in deep trouble. what we do know that 211 to, sorry, 211 to 213 votes would be needed to pass today. but we have the whips, scalise, mccarthy, won't talk. they're not saying anything about the vote totals they're

seeing right now. as we mentioned before ryan of course at the white house. the president said he absolutely want a vote today, but you got to think he might reconsider if they can't get it over the finish line. big changes coming. i wanted to share a piece of trend from house freedom caucus member trent franks, who was more optimistic than gohmert. listen to this. neil: if you had to handicap this vote later on today, whether four or five, whatever, how do you think it is going to go. >> i will answer your question but preface it to say three kinds of people who try to do that. those who don't know, those who don't know they don't know and those who know they don't know. you i fall in the final category but probably the momentum is towards passage. >> momentum towards passage. that is what he says, i have to tell you as you found out here every minute things seem to be changing. i wanted to add, there are a couple things have been changed about this bill last night at the last minute.

i want to mention those so people know. essential health benefits, laundry list obamacare included had to be covered including pregnancy benefits, drug benefits, et cetera, that decision what has to be covered by health insurance will be pass down to the states. so that is a big change. also 15 billion set aside for some of these things that were considered essential. finally that income tax surtax 0.9% extended six years. six years in this new version of the bill. a lot of people don't like that. they want all of the obamacare taxes to go away. so lots happening. we'll have to wait and see. can wait to hear what paul ryan has to say about his meeting. back to you you, neil. neil: all right. gerri, thank you very much. chad pergram, by the way our capitol producer is reporting that ryan-trump could be postponing this press session we're hearing but could determine whether they pull the

bill right here. the debate is not only to shelf it for another day and shelf it indefinitely and move on to the health care thing again. we don't know. many argue you can't proceed on to the tax cut thing anyway. each side make as convincing argument that you can and you can't. so i don't know. freedomworks ceo adam brennan is here against this deal, former health and human services secretary tommy thompson says it is pretty much this or nothing. so secretary, your view this isn't perfect but it is a heck of a lot better than doing nothing, right? >> absolutely. republicans have been campaigning for seven years to get rid of obamacare. they have a chance to get rid of it. it is not a perfect bill but no bill is perfect. it is time, it is time to vote. it is time to pass this, get it to the senate. if you want to end tax, end the restrictions, end the control of the federal government over health care, you have your opportunity. don't wait for the perfect bill.

right now this is a good bill. it should pass and it should pass with republican votes this afternoon. neil: you know, adam, when i see establishment guys like new jersey moderate and committee chairman like saying i can't support this and others saying i see if anything the positions are hardening against it. i could be missing something but what is going on? >> in our network the people we're working with we know about 20 hard nos before i came on this program. so this thing is definitely in doubt right now. but, i don't think if this fails that this is the end of the debate. what i would say go back to the last time with he had unity on republican health care, that was the 2015 bill that president obama vetoed in 2016. that's a great position. just roll that bill back out. there is no reason, there is, this is artificial deadline saying it has to happen today or it doesn't happen. neil: let's say it doesn't happen today or, it is shelved

for a while, secretary, maybe you canp help me with this, i'm told by the trump folks they can move on to tax cuts but it sit true. what is the case or what is true? >> what is true, the republicans are in the trenches for seven years it is time to get rid of it. they have the opportunity to get rid of it. how can you say now at 11th hour i will not vote for it because it doesn't have everything i want? that is ridiculous position. republicans will get hurt now and in the election if they don't pass it. it is time to stand up to be counted and time to pass this bill. i think if you, if you think you will go to taxes now, if you have a defeat on this one, number one issue you coming in front of it, you will have the same problems on the tax bill. it is time to govern. time to vote. time to pass it. neil: you know, adam, i'm wondering whether today or later or not at all, are we taking that as a given that tax cuts and comprehensive tax reform

will be any easier to get through this republican congress? it seems steeply divided on a lot of issues. >> again, fundamental tax reform is an issue that folks have been campaigning on for a long time. i do think there is more comprehensive understanding of, what the ultimate goals are in the tax package. the great simplification. the lowering the rates, the corporate and individual taxes. so i'm very optimistic about that bill. but i just want to say one more thing about this current health care bill. at the end of the day the voters are going to judge this bill if it lowers their premiums and right now i just don't see how this billowers premiums. maybe we need to repeal more of title one. those things that, have been driving up health care costs. i don't think anyone is being unreasonable here. they're just, i think most republicans want to vote for something that will lower premiums. neil: tommy. >> you are unreasonable. you are unreasonable. we have had seven years. now is the time. you're getting rid of taxes.

you're getting rid of restrictions. you're putting opportunity back to the states. you're block granting medicaid -- neil: but not getting rid of all taxes, tommy, right? you're keeping the -- >> you're getting rid of most of the taxes. this is a tremendous position for republicans. now to say oh, it is just not perfect, we're not going to vote for it. what a ridiculous position for us republicans to be in. neil: adam, can't you to the secretary's point if they agree on this measure, they can come back as democrats did, dozens of times and retool, refix, we work, right? >> sure. i think senator mitch mcconnell set the bar when he said we're going to repeal this bill root and branch. that is what we're looking for. neil: interesting. >> let's get it over to the senate. let's get it fixed. make some more fixes in the senate. you can't stop now. right now if the freedom caucus votes no, and this goes down, it is a huge embarassment for the president, for speaker ryan, for

republicans all over. it is going to hurt us and now it is time to unify and get this bill out of the house and over to the senate. >> what i think is huge embarassment if we don't do it right. if we don't keep our pledge to repeal obamacare. >> there has never been a perfect piece of legislation. >> i agree with that but we can do a lot better. >> this is 90% of what you wanted. what you've been asking for. now it is time to pass it. neil: you espouse your points eloquently. by the way "new york times" is reporting that the speaker is telling the president that he doesn't have the votes to pass this repeal of obamacare this is off the wires with the "new york times." we'll keep you posted on that. "washington examiner"'s emily deshinky. if that is the case, how do you think the meet something going down? >> especially new reports, people in the white house, people close to president trump, steve bannon were unhappy with the bill from the beginning. they thought it was written by

insurance lobby. that is a quote "new york" magazine attributed to steve bannon this morning. that conversation has to be uncomfortable, people close to the president because he blames ryan. in the transition process it was paul ryan's idea we'll prioritize health care. neil: why was that the case, emily? educate me on that? what was the method and thinking on that? >> i think that is key. if we want to sa care being rushed right now, you can't necessarily blame paul ryan because it was donald trump on campaign trail -- neil: absolutely. >> we'll do it immediately. we'll cover everybody and do it for a fraction ever the cost. neil: why are they thinking, emily, sorry to jump on you, republicans are far more in favor of tax cuts and tax reform than they were against obamacare. and so just knowing that, and polls indicated that, that this seems silly at outset? it is easy playing monday morning quarterback, we're not

at the weekend, but what do you make of that they just misplayed it? >> i think there is a lot of credence. i think maybe grain of salt, how much unification will they find working on tax reform which could be very soon if this thing is pulled, which looks like it is going to be. they will want to start doing that right away. neil: when you say pulled, pulled irv definitely, pulled to next week? president already made it clear today or sayonara. >> exactly with new reports pulled today, it could be sayonnara for health care reform if president sticks what he said. he had people coming out of meetings with mar-a-lago he is the closer. that was a huge sticking point on the campaign. if he can not close here, as an executive, as any good executive would, he has to take responsibility for that. neil: he won't do that. he is not going to do that. >> he won't. you are already seeing that. they're already blaming ryan. that is cue from the white house. neil: cavuto, negative very trump percent are at it again. that is not his motif.

he is not going to do that. someone will have their head on the platter but won't be the president. >> i completely agree. we're seeing signals. seems like the white house is blaming paul ryan. he will be the scapegoat. that is very clear. neil: the other issue becomes how the president works with congress after this. i think we tend to forget that other presidents have had serious bumps in the beginning. ronald reagan did. certainly jack kennedy did with the bay of pigs. he came back after that. in that one he took the blame for that even though it is fair to say he didn't have to, and his popularity went up but presidents have overcome rocky starts to do okay. ronald reagan is a good example. so, what do you make of that, whether we in the media, myself included here are overobsessing whether this is a permanent black eye on donald trump or republicans in general? >> i do think we need to be very careful because we're kind of in the trenches right now. we're just parsing everything.

i mean i think if we take a step back, what does the average american think? we're seeing, dr. krauthamer said this in the column, we're seeing legislation process look pretty healthy, right? we're seeing our institutions work. and so, i don't necessarily know this is as big of a deal as the media obsession is really implying that it is. maybe we should slow down a little bit. neil: you're right. >> donald trump himself will have to take blame for saying my way or the highway. now or never. maybe it isn't. maybe he won't stand true to that. let's get legislative gears turning and let's work. i don't know, we'll have to see. neil: emily, real quick, before briefing i want to speak to our buddy chad pergram on capitol hill. chad, what are you hearing? >> you i talked to a senior republican here who said there was conversation what they should do if they don't have the votes. house speaker paul ryan is down at white house right now. you wouldn't go to the white house if you thought everything was hunky-dory and ready to forge ahead. there was concern if they did forge ahead with the vote, goes

down, you put a lot of members on the hook, on the record on a bill that is never going anywhere. there is a lot of people who are against this. so that is kind of -- neil: conversely you also put them on the record to separate the he sheep from the lions, right? >> right, you do that of the other debate i'm told, is that you also maybe pull the bill for day, look, i think we can get within striking distance over the weekend or next week. remember, this is an arbitrary deadline that the house speaker put in place so they could do it this week in the house, next week in the senate. and clear the decks in the senate for the week after that to consider the confirmation of neil gorsuch for the supreme court. this sequencing things is a bit of an artifice house speaker paul ryan, at end of april they have to figure out how to keep the government open. they want to do tax reform and later deal with the debt ceiling. neil: sean spicer at the white house. >> good afternoon, everyone. there is a lot of going on today.

there to keep this on briefer side. president announced approval for presidential permit for the keystone pipeline of the lasted a administration spent eight years delaying this enormous investment in american energy independence. president trump is moving project forward in eight weeks. just as he promised an even better deal for the american people than before he took office. this project will directly generate an estimated 16,100 jobs according to the state department. all without spending a dime of taxpayer money. in many ways the project represented what was wrong with the infrastructure permitting of the united states. transcanada spent an incredittable amount of resources in an attempt to comply with government regulations only to be denied and delayed for political reasons but the days of pointless government bureaucracy holding up progress in production have ended by simply getting excessive, duplicative regulations out of the way. we can make infrastructure projects more attractive and more attractive prospect for

private investors and encourage even more projects like this one. immediately following the announcement by transcanada, the president announced that charter communications has committed to investing $25 billion here in the united states and hiring an additional 20,000 american workers over the next four years. charter communications is truly an example how american leadership can turn a downward, into an amazing success. five years ago, charter communications was a struggling company that had slowly emerged from bankruptcy. today, thanks to the hard work and great leadership of chairman and ceo tom rutledge, it is the fastest growing television, internet and voice company in the nation. most importantly as charter grew, american jobs grew. as they brought back many jobs that had been previously been shipped overseas. today charter is also committed to completely ending offshore call centers, basing 100% of them in the united states. together, the transcanada and charter communications

announcements demonstrate the new economic model by what the president calls the quote, american model. by slashing job-killing regulations and reducing government burdens and lowering taxes we'll make it easier for all businesses to grow here at home, generating jobs and boosting our economy by getting government out of the way. following these big announcements the president had lunch with secretary of treasury steve mnuchin. he was joined by speaker paul ryan. i will update you in a second on that. later in the afternoon the president will host a greek independence day celebration. as i mentioned yesterday at 4:00 he will meet with two dozen medal of honor recipients to honor medal of honor day, technically tomorrow. he is honored to be hosting these great men and women of our armed services, the greatest force for peace around justice the world has ever known. obviously later today the house will be voting on the american health care act. current vote is scheduled for 3:30 the president has been working the phones and having in-person meetings since the american health care act was

introduced. he left everything on the field when it comes to this bill. the president and congressional republicans promised the american people they would repeal and replace this broken system. obamacare's washington driven one size fits all plan had seven years to prove its case and look what it left us with. skyrocketing premiums. on average premium for obamacare benchmark plans increased 25% in 2017. unaffordable deductibles, two most popular obamacare health plans have average deductibles equivalent to 10% and 6% of the median american household income. with these high he deductibles many people have technically insurance but nothing that they can afford to use. fewer choices, one in five americans have only one insurer offering obamacare through a exchanges. of course higher taxes. key conservative groups like the tea he party express and american conservative union have added them to long list of organizations expressing their support for the american health care act because they know it is

our chance after the american people spent years suffering to finally repeal and replace the nightmare of obamacare. the president looks forward to seeing house republicans join with influential voices and vote in favor of the american health care act. speaker ryan came up here to visit with him to update him on the bill. they are continuing to discuss the way forward on this the speaker is updating him on these efforts. as i mentioned to many of you the president has been working throughout the week on this calling early and starting early in the morning working until late at night, calling members, visiting members, by our count over 120 members had a visit call, or meeting here at the white house in the past few days which is an extraordinary feat. the president and his team have committed everything they can to making this thing happen and the speaker will continue to update him on the way forward. finally, a few administrative notes here at end. yesterday senior level united

states and israeli delegations concluded four days of intensive talks with a particular focus on concrete near term measures to improve the overall climate in order to advance prospects of genuine and lasting peace between israel and palestine. the united states delegation was led by jason greenblatt and included representatives nsc and the department of state. a principle focus of the discussion was specific measures that could have meaningful impact on the economic environment in the west bank and gaza, allowing palestinians to more fully realize their economic potential. two delegations also discussed israeli settlement construction. the fact both governments dedicated such senior delegations for so much days he reflect the close cooperation between these countries and the importance that both assign to this vital task. last night the president announced his intention to nominate several key additional people to the administration including athea costcy deputy

administrator of small business administration. william hagerty iv to be ambassador to japan. robert zumwalt iii, member of national transportation safety board. of note the united states district court oar eastern district of virginia upheld the president's revised protective order protecting nation from foreign people who seek to do us harm into the united states. we're pleased with this ruling found plaintiffs had no luckily hood of success on merits of claims of the as court correctly said, the order false within the legal authority to protection nation's security. we're confident that the president's fully lawful and necessary action will be allowed to move forward through the rest of the court systems. in the terms of schedule this weekend, president will spend working weekend in washington update with further details regarding his questions. with that get to your questions. steve.

reporter: our understanding you don't have the votes to pass the health care legislation is that the message speaker ryan delivered and what lessons do you draw from this? >> president working with speaker and members. he made a sell. tuesday group here. 17 members here. 16 walked out as a yes. we had group of members we continued to have a conversation with. and tried to make, frankly at this point it is not a question of negotiating anymore. it is understanding the greater good that is at hand. the president understands this is it. we had this opportunity to change the trajectory of health care to help improve, put a health care system in place. and the nightmare that republicans have campaigned on called obamacare. i noted yesterday was the seventh year anniversary of obamacare. we have opportunity to make sure that was the last one. the question do members realize this opportunity?

there is no question in my mind at least, that the president and the team here have left everything on the field. we have called every member that had a question or concern. tried to the extent possible take into consideration ideas that would strengthen the bill. it is now going to be up to members of the house to decide whether or not they want to follow through on the promise of that. but we're going to continue to work with the speaker. and the leadership there to see where the votes are. we're getting closer and close. you need to get to 217. they started four hours of debate. i suspect a vote around 3:3:04 hour. we'll see where we go. hunter? reporter: we're hearing pal ryan and mitch mcconnell wanted to do clean repeal and replace over time. in retrospect would that be a better approach and in general do you think paul ryan handled this well? >> i don't know that is entirely the case. i know this was a joint effort.

this something that the house determined in terms of the three-pronged approach that we had. so i don't know that i necessarily agree with the assessment how that happened. reporter: in general is the white house happy with how paul ryan -- >> i think the speaker has done everything he can. he worked really closely with the president. i think at the end of the day, i said this yesterday. you can't force people to vote. but, i think we've given them every single reason to fulfill every pledge that they have made and, i think this is the right thing to do. maggie. i don't want you to live tweet this thing. reporter: thank you. what is white house view if this does not pass, what does it mean going forward for the president's agenda -- [inaudible]? >> yeah, look, i said it before, i don't think you tie any of these together. that is just not -- there is a huge appetite for tax reform. and i'm not trying to just at

that pose anything to do with -- juxtapose to do anything with today's vote. it would be a great thing to move forward. the president put a lot of time and effort into this. he made a strong case as to why this has to happen, i think we worked with the house. if we don't get, if, regardless what happens today, and i still feel optimistic, that you know, speaker and president and vice president, they got a team been up on the hill most of the day. they will continue to try to get every vote they can but that doesn't mean, whether it is immigration and or tax reform there is still a huge appetite out there. so. reporter: if this fails today, is the president done with -- >> so negative? reporter: that's what you're hearing? >> that's what you're hearing? i haven't heard that yet. why don't we continue with a very positive, optimistic friday. the sun is coming out. i feel really good.

you know he, so we're going to continue to work as late as we can to get the votes. as i said, the upside is, you know we continue to pick up votes. people continue to say they want to be there. the question can we get to 216? make no mistake about it. the president made it clear, this is it. you have the opportunity to do what you told the american people, the commitment that we as a party have made but this is your chance to do what we've done. we listened. we incorporated. we updated. in every way possible. when you look at legislative efforts the president gave his all. it shock ad lot people frankly how very, have he detail orienterred, how personal, him calling members as early as 6:00 in the morning, going to 11:00 at night the last several nights. sitting down meeting after meeting with them, coming back, revising it, having his team back and forth. everything is out there. i think each of these members

needs to make that decision, whether or not they believe, you know, at some point you can only do so much what i would honestly tell you. i think everything we can possibly do to listen to members, get their concerns, in this piece of legislation to make it as strong as possible for the american people has been done. reporter: is the president comfortable with obamacare continuing? >> no he is not. of course he is not. reporter: promise that he would repeal this? >> i mean i'm not even sure where to start with that. no he is not, why he literally put as much effort as he has to repealing this. and, so, but he made it clear that this is our moment. this is our opportunity to do it. but it is now up to members to make that decision whether or not they want to be part of this effort to repeal obamacare. if they don't, i think for a lot, you saw the president's tweet this morning, for a lot of members whose life is important issue as well, this is your opportunity. but ultimately them that have to go down on the floor to cast

that vote. i think that, you know, we've been able to cast a bunch of votes over past couple years when you knew a president wouldn't sign it. you now you have a president that is going to sign the bill if you pass it. and now it is that time. sikh. reporter: [inaudible]. i will fix it, throughout the entire campaign, his vote es to the american people he is businessman he knows how to get deals done, he knows how to break the gridlock in washington. he is the closer, what you said earlier this week. if this vote does go down what does it say about the president? is the president humbled by this will readjust -- >> you know, i'm not, i said to i am optimistic. i continue to work hard. at end of the day you can't force somebody to do something. there is nobody that objectively can look at this effort didn't say the president didn't do every single thing he possibly

could with his team to get every vote possible. and i think that is why, you know, i still feel good about this but, you know, we are where we are. members have to make that decision for themselves. this is the final hour to make that decision. blake? >> sean, isn't under any consideration to pull the bill between now and then? >> you guys are so negative. reporter: there are reports -- >> there are reports out there. let, the speak around president are talking now. the leader and whip doing their vote counts. the debate is ongoing. we'll going to continue, we're proceeding with a 3:30 treat as scheduled. reporter: if you don't mind take me through the vote the bill was pulled or the president made the decision or is team went to the hill saying there is vote today. at what point did he make that calculation, why did he make that calculation? can you bring us -- >> there were couple of things. we wanted to be open as possible with the vote. having con the current

trajectory it was going into the wee hours of the morning, for all we talked about that wasn't the appropriate way to vote. we decided to work with the house and ask they postpone make sure it was done in the light of day. but i think that he has had enough discussions. it is, it is not about improving the bill anymore. i think he has taken into consideration every members thoughts and concerns and relayed those to the house. i think to the extent that, that you know, this balance much trying to get to 216 in this case is such that there are people come in with ideas, say if you do that, to get your vote i will give up 2or these three i will give up 12 -- 26. we struck the right balance and incorporated it into the strongest possible bill. and, but he is going to continue to work as hard as he can until the very end. charlie. reporter: how important is a live vote to the president, to see who is on his side?

>> we have a whip. we've seen the whip counts. the whip, mr. scalise done a phenomenal job with liter mccarthy. we know who is where the vote count stands. we don't, we don't need a live vote to tell us where the votes are. people have been pretty straightforward where they are and what their outstanding issues are. >> the president and speaker are meeting right now. do you know, can you tell us anything about the character of that meeting or what exactly they're looking at going forward? >> they're discussing. they're not looking. they're sitting down and talking about where it stands. some of the o outstanding issues or onesies or twosies or fives. what are outstanding issues of blocks and individuals and having discussion on that. anita? reporter: [inaudible] >> is there somebody going to ask when it passes -- reporter: want a briefing right after the vote? >> no. >> okay. [laughter]

>> score one for you. [laughter]. >> if the bill doesn't pass, does the president still have confidence in -- >> i think he answered that question earlier today. reporter: does he think he should step down -- >> he answered that question earlier. he said he did. reporter: specifically after the vote, whatever happens how will we get a response from you all? >> electronically or verbally but one of the two. reporter: thank you, sean. this is the president's first for ray into legislative sausage making so to speak, does it differ from negotiating a real estate deal, a business deal, is it more complicated, more trickier? what is his feelings about it? >> i think we'll have plenty of time to reflect on it after we do this. so i will, i know that, i will just leave it at that for now. kristin. reporter: thanks without prejudging the outcome -- >> thank you. reporter: is the president in any way regret pursuing health

care first given how complicated it is? >> no, if you think about it in order to maximize, for most people it doesn't make a ton of sense the savings that acheive through the first reconciliation of health care we're doing through the 2017 budget process which still continues, allows us to utilize the savings in that process to maximize additional tax reform measures that will start in the 2018, fy-2018 reconciliation process. while that sounds like a ton of inside baseball gobbledygook, the reality in order to maximize tax reform both on the corporate side to make our businesses more competitive and to give individuals, especially middle-class americans for tax relief, doing this in that way maximizes the amount of savings that you can use for the second reconciliation package which would be tax reform.

doing it the first way, you can do but again you're not going to achieve the full potential that you could if you did it the way it is happening now. that being said, it's not, it's not a question, we all knew how big this was. it is 1/5 of the economy and what it took. the issue is i think disparate interests are there and some of the process explaining if you will. understanding, the way this is happening, i think legislatively it is complicated. for a lot of folks, just understand why can't you do it all one fell swoop? what is the byrd rule? what is reconciliation? why do you have to do it in three phases for a lot of people why that is a little bit complicated. not just a question of understanding. one of the other things that the president and team has found, there is a lot of issues where people are wondering if i vote for this how can i guarranty i get something in phase two, which is administrative pieces that secretary price would institute?

and then third is, well you know, these legislative things will take 60 votes to complete the overall package, how do i have -- so there is a lot of, comprehensive nature of this makes it very complicated. i think that is a lot different. normally one bill sails through and deal with all these things, and one amendment, you add it in, we're having these one-off discussions will the senate accept this when you put it in? if they put it in not only will they accept it will the byrd rule kick in and kick it out that complicates it like nothing else. >> understood. put a fine point, was his question to do health care first or paul ryan -- reporter: during the transition we gamed out in coordination with the house what should go first panned why. not a question what should go first. if a question if you don't do it first, do you lose potential in savings that you would achieve

through the second reconciliation. reporter: would it been wiser to work with the freedom caucus for infrastructure reform and build up -- >> we talked about this since 2010. every republican with the exception of probably a handful has campaigned from dog catcher on up that they would do everything they could to repeal and replace obamacare. i think to get in hey, you should have done something else, wouldn't be fair to the american people who have said, okay i will vote for you but i want i want you to full you will fill this pledge. reporter: finally does the buck stop with him on this? >> like i said earlier you can't force someone to vote a certain way. i think in the sense has he done every single thing, pulled out every stop, has he called every member, has he tweaked every tweak, has he done every single thing he can possibly and used every minute of every day that is possible to get this thing through, then the answer is yes. has the team put everything out there? have we left everything on the field?

absolutely. but at the end of the day this isn't a dictatorship. we have to expect members to ultimately vote, you know how they will according to what they think. the president made clear. they're the ones who have to go back to answer to their constituents why they didn't fulfill a pledge they made. reporter: non-health care question for you. regarding these documents that devin nunes says show incidental intelligence collection, identifying information about people associated with the trump campaign, can you categorically rule out chairman nunes received or was alerted to these documents from someone at the white house? >> i'm not aware of what he got the document from. reporter: can you rule that out? >> i don't know where he got it from. he didn't state it so i don't have anything for on that. so, i can not say anything more than i don't know at this point. cecelia. reporter: if the president has done everything he can possibly do, and speaker done everything

he possibly can do, team put everything on the table who is to blame? >> wait and see how the thing, i'm not assigning blame. reporter: you wanted a vote last night or this morning there. is a stall -- >> no, we did want a vote last night. as i mentioned, as i got into the evening hours the idea wasn't to bury this at 12 or 1:00 in the morning. reporter: initially you were asking for yesterday -- >> no, no. and, i'm not backing away from that. we want ad vote yesterday. but what happened, as we got the process went on we realized that vote would occur, probably actually into today, in terms of like calendarwise and that doing it at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 in the morning was not something that would be in keeping what we had promise. reporter: so who is to blame for the stall? is there -- >> there is not a blame. a question of getting all the members together and dealing with -- you've seen activity. you've seen members go back and forth. right now we're still in the

active discussion phase trying to figure out who we can get on board and figure out whether or not we can move forward. we're not there yet. reporter: you put ultimatum out there is the president confident he can see the bill through? >> the president is confident we have done every single thing possible, made the case, updated, added and done everything to listen to the concerns and to do everything that fulfills the promises that we and members have made with the american people. reporter: john? reporter: thank you, sean. without prejudging outcome of the vote today, but focusing on your comments, and the president's saying this would be a vote against life if people votes against it -- >> right. reporter: several republican members did not warrant the vote on planned parenthood in this particular bill. congressman john fast fassel was

tech already larly outspoken. any negotiation with the white house guarantying a separate vote on planned parenthood and leave it out of the bill? >> i'm not aware of it, john. i'm not aware of that happened. reporter: from your tone and white house wanted the planned parenthood vote? >> i have to go back and look at there is lot of discussions going on. i honestly can't remember how or when that came up. reporter: the other thing i wanted to ask, the last two members who announced they were no, chris smith and frank lobiondo, republicans of new jersey, they both cited number of medicaid recipients in their district as premier reason. congressman lobiondo, three counties, 30% of his constituents were on medicaid and he wanted no damage. was there anything discussed on medicaid? was it on the table at the negotiations? >> i know there was a discussion

about the expansion of medicaid and some work requirements with respect to able-bodied americans receiving that but i would say this, john, one of the things that not member specific to either members from new jersey, is that members understand that the current system is unsustainable. so if you vote no today, then what is your alternative? and what do you want? because right now there is a lot of folks that have said they will vote no, which is, you know, their prerogative but at the end of the day the current obamacare system will collapse on its own. so the question that they have to ask themselves, or that they will be asked by their constituents, what is your alternative? right now, this is the choice that will save the system. the other choice is to do nothing and that is going to collapse the system. amen. reporter: thanks, sean. stock market is largely looking at this proxy how you will do on the tax stuff.

would you -- what lessons learned here are this was handled and might apply to -- >> ayman, i will we discussed this. i will not give lessons learned in the middle after debate. if you want to stop by over the weekend we can talk about, sit down with you on that. again we're not, right now we're focused on getting the votes. the house is, has a vote scheduled. that is what our focus is. not to figure out, we'll have plenty of time for that. jan? reporter: president simply wash his hands of this today? >> we're not, president will wash his hands several times but i don't know -- reporter: central campaign promise of the president of the united states and -- >> i get it. slow down. turn on c-span, we'll watch this together and we can discuss what happened together. jen? reporter: treasury secretary mnuchin is talking about doing tax reform by the august recess. do you think that is a reasonable timeline? why the rush?

are there any rest sons learned from this health care debate? >> again, tax reform is something that we've talked about. there is plenty ever time. i think it's a goal. i think it is ambitious one. i think it is one we'll try to stick to. but let's, let's get by today. we'll lay it out. i think tax reform is something that the president is very committed to. if seen him publicly in last public open events how excited is he to move on, once this is done to tax reform because he understands both sides of this. that the business piece of this, we are so uncompetitive to orlando worldly competitors in terms of our tax rate. when we have these discussions keeping companies from shipping jobs overseas or growing, bringing back jobs to america, the two things that come up over and over again are our tax rate and our regulatory system. i think he understands on the

tax front we can be a lot more competitive with the rest of the world in growing american jobs here at home and frankly expanding manufacturing if we, if we lower that. but also the american middle class desperately needs and wants a tax break. i think the more that we can do with that -- this is something i think we're going to be continuing to work on and we'll have more on that later. trey. reporter: how much credit will the president take for the outcome of this health care bill? >> you want to refer you to like the last eight people. let's see where we go from here. reporter: quick follow-up. is white house still as confident as is the president was as was earlier in the week that this health care bill will pass? >> i suggest my answer i said to kristin we have confident that we have done everything. and it is now up to voters. the reason president called for

a vote and respectfully obviously it is not up to us, the reason he asked speaker ryan and leader mccarthy to call for a vote, we've done everything. we've done every single thing, every meeting, every call, irv he discussion, every idea has been out there, adjudicated listened to. i think that now is the time for the vote. so we're a couple hours away. let's see where we go. reporter: level of confidence remain? >> i think in the sense of what we did, yes. peter. reporter: president can order every surveillance transcript that mentioned himself or his associates in regards to russia for the investigation, that he called for be brought to his desk at anytime. has he done that? >> no. reporter: so yesterday you were asked specifically the concern should be less about the process more about the substance. i asked if that is one way directly to get to the substance. on the substance devin nunes said initially that he, quote, there was evidence quote that clearly showed that the president-elect and his team

were monitored. today he said, asked if trump or associates were monitored or mentioned, we don't know. we won't know until we actually receive all the documentation. the president says he is somewhat vindicated. given the fact that devin nunes doesn't actually know if the president was monitored or whether he was even mentioned, what is he vindicated by? >> there has been an acknowledgement that there are documents out there showing that people were surveiled or monitored to some degree. reporter: could have been exclusively been foreigner devin nunes concedes. >> devin nunes also said he would have a hearing next week with several members the intelligence community and calling others back. let's wait. reporter: what is the president vindicated by? >> the president felt somewhat vindicated there is acknowledgement as we proceed down this discussion, it continues to s something there, and that despite the constant discussion about the process and -- hold on, peter, i understand.

i get this is, i understand it and i also said he will have a hearing and call the people back and he is waiting for the documents. so let's wait and let the process evolve. reporter: thank you, sean. couple questions, first about keystone. what changed? seemed like it took forever in covering the obama administration for this thing to finally get over the finish line. it never did and relatively quickly, less than 65 days in it alley made its way over the finish line, what changed especially with respect state department's view of the keystone xl pipeline? is it your opinion it would be good to hear from the president, win, lose or draw after what we learned de vries is a v. health care reform? >> so, simply put on keystone, it was a priority. i mean the president came in, he signed an executive order on it. he talked about it during the campaign and he made it a priority? he made it a priority for his team here at the white house to get it done. not only the jobs but

incorporates u.s. steel. it isn't any simpler he made it priority for him, his team, the administration and department of state and others. that's right it. he recognizes the importance of that to both energy and jobs in our economy and simply got it done. i will leave it up to the president to see how it goes. margaret. reporter: as a deal maker why does the president feel this take it or leave it approach is the right one on health care? >> because i think he has done -- at some point you have listened to everybody. you have gotten all the other ideas. you have gone back and forth. you have incorporated them. you have assuaged them in some way, shape or form. you have updated the bill and a lot of times same people coming back over and over again. you go, okay. i have listened to you, i taken your ideas. at some point we either have a deal or we don't. that is president said we finally drew the line. we've been having discussion.

we've been having meetings. we've done everything possible to address the concerns and ideas and opinions, that people have brought up. and, that i mean i don't think you can say it any simpler. he has done every single thing possible. you end up at some point finding yourself going around and around, okay, let's call the vote. reporter: isn't there a political cost to a collapse, eventually? >> at some point there is political cost dragging this out and saying keep going. that is where we came to a decision, it had gotten as far as it can go. caitlyn. reporter: if there is collapse, isn't there a cost? the president at some point will have to pay for? >> in terms of what? reporter: the collapse -- >> look, members. reporter: besides upcoming election in 2018. i'm talking about economic impact. all the impact -- >> i think that what we'll have

to look at landscape, at some point i think right now democrats made a decision during this debate that they, they wanted to stick by obamacare. i think at some point the president talked about this, that you know, this is going to collapse. and you know, let's see where this thing heads. right now we have a plan on the table that allows for a solution that will address all the concerns frankly were initially brought up as far as what the affordable care act was supposed to do. caitlyn? reporter: if you know what the vote count are right now, there is no discussion of pulling the health care bill, and it gets closer to 3:30 you still don't have the votes, why vote? >> i'm not going to discuss our strategy. reporter: you see what i'm saying? you know what the votes are and you know you don't have the votes for it to pass, why vote? >> i understand your question. i'm just not going to comment on our strategy. i think president and speaker are going to have a discussion about where those votes are and

what some members needs are. and we'll take it from there. athena? reporter: you talked about all the work that the president -- [inaudible] early morning calls. late calls. the other he day one of the members of congress who appeared to meet with president, congressman mchenry, called, were bringing him to the closer. you embraced that nickname from the podium. whatever happened today to do you still feel comfortable calling president the closer when it comes to deal-making? >> look i said it to kristin and others. he has done everything possible. no one on capitol hill or any honest observer what happened doesn't recognize the extraordinary feets, at some point i mentioned this is not one-on-one negotiation. this is, you know, you have to get to 216. i don't, i think, part of this question is to go to some of those nos, ask them, what is the reason, what would you do? the problem as i mentioned before, there is this balancing act.

to get these two members you're giving up 14. but we're doing everything possible to get to that 214, 216. that, i don't are i think when you actively objectively look at the effort undertaken, there is no question that every single thing has been done, has been done to maximize the vote count on this. reporter: to be very clear, addressed a few times, but i i want to get a clear answer, you talked about this is the chance this, is the opportunity for republicans to make good on campaign promises. >> yeah. reporter: i asked the president couple days ago, what happens will you keep pushing with this bill today. he said we'll wait to see what happens. are you saying right now that there will be no future attempt to comply with that campaign promise if today's attempt fails? >> i can't say there will never be. i'm not fatalistic about the vote at 3:30. the president made the effort. this is the train leaving the station. he expect the everyone, this is our opportunity.

he has got a lot left on the agenda he wants to get done, whether it is, immigration, taxes, the border wall. there are some other things that he wants to have, get done, that we're not going to sit around and figure out, this is the opportunity. this is the time. this is the opportunity forever member who has said that they want to repeal and replace obamacare to put their vote in the yes column. reporter: last one, if it does pass today, you talked about a lot being done in three faces, today phase one, phase two, face three. the problem this is not information in scorable form. the steps that secretary price might take and what end up in the final bill -- >> i don't know yet -- reporter: can you put administrative steps? attempted to be done. >> we're focused on the vote. but, i think that we'll have either omb or cbo take a look at not just the other elements but

can you look at it in its totality? i don't know but that is a good question i can have the omb folks address potentially with the cbo folks. thank you, twice. we'll be, i'm sure we'll have additional updates from today. thank you. neil: all right. you've been listening to sean spicer here. heished indicated right now he is still confident they're going to be able to do this. it is not over yet. a lot of crepe hanging from reports saying it's a done deal, it is not a done deal, a little bit premature on the grave walking here. as spicer was speaking we were getting word that speaker paul ryan left the white house after a meeting with president trump. we're told that he came bearing unfriendly news. the new york times among others reporting that he just told president trump didn't have the votes. the votes were not there. that did not stop the vice president, mike pence who is still up on capitol hill trying to win over conservative caucus members. we're hearing separately, that every effort that has been taken

to win over conservative members has ticked off moderate members, members of the so-called tuesday group. that goes back to a time when these moderate members used to meet on tuesdays. be that as it may, they don't like it when concessions are made to conservatives. i want to get texas governor greg abbott on this. the governor also met with the president today. i don't want to take the leap many in the media governor, this is boeing nowhere fast but it looks like it is going nowhere fast. what is the fallout? if does fall apart can republicans easily pivot to tax cuts. because that i'm told is lot easier said than done. what do you think? >> listen, one of the priorities the president has, to stimulate the economy. one of the components of doing that is those tax cuts. the president, it is my perception fully intends to move aggressive down the pathway to insure those tax cuts are implemented. second, but also related to that, neil, is the fact why it was that i was meeting with the

president today. we met to make a big jobs announcement that shows the president, even though he is involved in this health care fight, is also working to insure that we are creating more jobs in the state of texas, across the united states and what today's announcement dealt with, was inshoring, reshoring return to the united states about jobs that were off shored in the past. so the president remains committed to the full dynamics of what he campaigned on to insure that we improve the economy, we create more jobs across the united states of america. neil: does it bother you, governor, you and i chatted about this before, i always think with news networks, business networks we have plenty of time to get into the bad news, disappointing news for trump as well as good news seems proportionally negative. my colleagues in the press would say news is disproportionally negative for donald trump. i'm not sure about that i do

know these types of job announcements and yours today, tend to get short-shrift. i don't think i'm making editorial judgment here as much as statement of fact. does that bother you? >> it is frustrating when some components of news media focus on bad or ways antagonistic to the president. reality, what everyday americans feel and think, and whatever day americans see is president focused on creating jobs in the country. that is why the president won the election in the first place. dealt with blue-collar jobs in mix began, ohio, states like wisconsin. what is president is focuses on achieving addressing those economic concerns by middle-class americans. neil: it is interesting, part of the appeal texas have had, you have had as governor, enticing businesses to relocate, very low taxes, some cases zero taxes so these companies come in. we know tax cuts are a great boom to businesses seeking out

better havens. we already know they're popular. i know it is playing monday moring quarter back, governor, but do you think the priority or even now reset it to tax cuts which republicans by and large agree and has great popular support as well, what do you think? >> there are several things must be done and can be done at same time. one focus on tax cuts. two, continue the focus on regulatory reform or regulatory reduction. dodd-frank or epa, with regard to some different ways. i believe as much the regulatory reduction stimulating stock market, stimulating economy. elevating what jamie dimon called the animal spirits among businesses across this country. so we need to do multiple things to stimulate our economy. remember this, neil. that is, during entirety of the obama administration, gross domestic product never exceeded 3%. i believe president trump will get it above three% by

combination of tax cuts and regulatory reform. neil: finally governor, want to get your sense of lay ever washington land. when you leave your state it is noteworthy. obviously texas is doing very well. the feeling republicans are starting out with a stumble. it would not be the first party that starts things off stumbling but are are worry for your party. >> not at all. for one, we do have a bold aggressive agenda that connects with americans the way we need to. the kind of thing made texas so great and texas number one in the nation for job creation, is exactly what republicans focus on, the things we will achieve. as we reach out and continue the agenda that we're focused on it will contact with those in their pocketbooks in ways that americans really desire. neil: governor, thank you very much, governor greg abbott.

>> thank you, neil. neil: there is no panic selling. down 38 points. >> it's time to move on win or lose. hello, everybody, i'm cheryl casone in for trish regan, and welcome to "the intelligence report." sean spicer just announcing the vote will happen sometime in the 3 p.m. hour, maybe 4 p.m., despite the report that votes, well, just aren't there. speaker paul ryan leaving the white house just moments ago following a meeting lasting just under an hour. he was updating the president on where things are with the bill